The Future Meets Dr Facilier
by Hermioneroxx77
Summary: A young woman lands in the wrong time in her time machine with no way to go home. A voodoo witch doctor escapes the other side. She's naïve and vulnerable. He's smooth and charismatic. Need I say more? R&R! Chapter 9 'Dead Man' is up!
1. Dr Facilier Returns

**First fanfic, so don't flame :P**

**Disclaimer: Facilier is unfortunately not mine. *sniffles***

* * *

"Mia, are you sure you want to do this?" James asked nervously.

Mia looked inside the time machine tentatively, hoping that she would be able to work the thing properly.

"James, I've been working on this with you and the whole team for years. It doesn't make sense to not test it. And I'm not going too far anyhow, just a couple of years back."

"1994 is not just a couple of years back," he said hotly. "That's 21 years ago."

"Don't worry James! I'll be totally fine. But could you take me through the controls again? I know I'm going to forget it as soon as it's time to go." she said ashamedly, her cheeks coloring.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes my forgetful little child. Okay, so the lever is for how fast you want to go in time, and I don't care how fast you want to go, you aren't allowed to go faster than 2 years per minute or else you might end up far from where you wanted to be. Just insert the code on the paper Mr. Hofstadter gave you, type in the year date and time, and press the blue button. If things go out of control press the red button. Got it?"

"…Right. If I don't come back you should know that I will be stuck in the dungeon of King Tut." She said sarcastically.

"Don't worry Mia, I know you can do this. Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

She smiled as she stepped inside the time machine, looking out at the starry sky and the garage where she and the team built the machine for the last time for a long while.

"I can handle myself. I'm a twenty year old young woman who helped built the first time machine in existence. This is only a month, 2 months max. I'll be back safe and sound."

She looked down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable.

"I know that Mr. Cooper really doesn't approve of using the time machine for personal purposes but… I want to know who my father was. I don't remember anything. I was only a year old when he died. Anyhow, I know I can work this hunk of junk better than any of you can." She said with a wink.

"Hey hey! Don't go calling this beautiful thing a 'hunk of junk'!" he said clutching his heart mockingly.

"Bye James. Thanks for everything." She said smiling as she stepped inside the machine.

He didn't want to worry, but he knew that Mia could be quite naïve. Like a kitten that thought of itself as a huge tiger. She could handle this, he reassured himself. She wasn't a child.

"Bye Mia. Be safe."

They both looked at each other for a moment before she pulled the door, closing it with an ominous thud. She stared at it, wondering if she would be able to open it again.

_Calm down Mia, you're being paranoid. Everything's fine_, she told herself.

She pulled out the crinkled paper that the head of the team had given her and started punching in the long code. Once she was sure that she had it right, she typed in April 7th 12:00 PM 1994 and pressed the blue button.

The time machine's engine began to roar and Mia dug her nails into the upholstery of the chair she was sitting on. About a minute later she began to wonder why everything outside was still the same.

James' frustrated face popped up on the computer screen causing Mia to gasp.

"Damn, you scared me. How come I'm not travelling through time?" she queried.

"Maybe because you didn't pull the lever?" said James sarcastically.

Mia ran her hand through her short, choppy black hair and sighed.

"Sorry James. Just a bit nervous."

James' facial features relaxed and he managed a tiny smile. "It's okay. Just—be careful alright?"

"I will."

His face flickered on the screen and the screen went dead. Mia took out the other note from her pocket that Mr. Cooper gave her which told her what was the recommended speed.

"1 month per minute?! Is this man _kidding_ me?" she asked herself, raising an eyebrow.

She stared at the lever, imagining herself pulling it back all the way, moving at 100 years per minute, seeing nothing but a blur of colors from her window. Instead, she obediently put it at 1 month per minute.

She stared at the scene of her and the team working on the machine irritably. 6 minutes had passed since she first pulled the lever. The 2 years per minute mark looked ever so tempting…

She sighed and laid back in her chair. As she observed the little time machine she was in, she caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her gray eyes were just like her mothers. Everyone always said she had her father's smile. Even when she cried everyone said she looked exactly like her father. Perhaps that was the reason her mother couldn't bear to look at her cry but could handle her younger sister…

She tried to smile, to see that piece of her father in her, but it came as an awkward grimace. She rolled her eyes and blew the hair out of her face before staring out at the scene before her.

_Just be happy you're going to see your father for once, _she reminded herself as she looked out the window, mulling over her life.

About 20 minutes later she was still at the scene of the world turning from night and day rapidly, and her and the team coming in and out of the garage to make the blasted time machine she was sitting in.

She couldn't take it, couldn't stand the suspense.

She curled her slender fingers around the lever, hesitating to pull it.

_He said that 2 years per minute was the fastest I was allowed to travel; therefore I could go up to that mark… couldn't I?_

She tentatively pulled it back to the 2 years per minute mark, but as she was doing so the force from jerking from a slow speed to a fast speed made the box pull of clothes for 1994 fall from the shelf over the controls and onto her head.

She held onto the lever for support, but fell back into her chair as the contents of her box spilled on top of her. She moaned softly as she took the box off of her and the 3 or so pair of shoes that had clocked her right on the head.

She looked at the lever, horrified. She slowly looked out the window, and rather than seeing everything in fast motion, she could hardly see anything at all.

Her eyes widened and she jumped up in alarm.

She tried to push the lever back to the starting mark but it wouldn't budge. She gave up after 10 seconds, rubbing her hands and feeling childish enough to make a face at the inanimate object. She looked over the control panel frantically and her eyes caught the emergency stop button. Feeling grateful that James had actually labeled the button, she slammed her palm down on it.

The time machine started to rock violently and she was thrown to the floor. Her gray eyes rolled up in her head and she fell unconscious as the machine shuddered to a halt.

* * *

Mia's eyes fluttered open and she suddenly remembered where she was. She looked out the window and all she could see was a dew rays of sunshine piercing the darkness that she was in. She slowly got to her feet and looked outside. She had landed in an alleyway that only contained a few garbage cans and boxes. And of course, the newest addition: her.

_Where on earth have I ended up? _She asked herself, nearly laughing because it was such a legitimate question. For all she knew she could be in Florida. She hoped she had somehow landed in her hometown Toronto, where she lived for all her life, but it didn't seem likely.

She knew that wherever she had ended up, even if the machine was in perfect working condition, she wouldn't be able to get out of there for a month. Not unless she had the code to reprogram it.

She got up and flicked a switch. Harsh white fluorescent light flooded the little machine, making Mia squint and cover her eyes. She blinked rapidly and quickly surveyed the machine for any obvious damage. There was no external damage as far as she knew, but about damage in the internal workings of the machine, she wasn't quite sure.

Although she knew it was futile, she punched in the numbers to go back home.

"The time machine built by the Cooper Hofstadter Corporation has suffered serious damage to section C-13 and D-27 of the main hard drives and therefore cannot perform the operation of travelling through the time space continuum. We are sorry for any inconvenience."

We are sorry for any inconvenience? Was Cooper drunk when he programmed those words? Those are the words you see on a sign that the cashier puts up on the conveyor belt when she's done her shift. Those are the words you hear when you try to call someone but the call won't go through.

Not when you're being informed that you might have to stay in whatever time you ended up in. She could be in 1950 for all she knew.

It may have been easy for the female robotic voice to say, but for Mia, her whole world was turned upside down.

She numbly turned around, pulled the latch on the door and stepped outside.

She crouched down and felt around for a switch underneath the time machine.

_Dear God, please let this thing work_, she prayed as she found the switch. She pulled on it and after a bit of flickering, she was crouching in front of a stone wall. She smiled as she put her hand on the invisible machine.

Getting up, she dusted her hands on her jeans. She took out the mini camera she bought a week before and snapped a picture of the alley she was in, or she would be completely lost by the time she came back from her wanderings.

She took a big breath and quickly stepped out of the alley. She took in the scene around her, awestruck.

There were men in suits and women in pretty dresses walking around on the streets. The sun shone down on the river nearby. Musicians with their little cans lined the streets, filling the air with lively jazz music.

Streetcars carried people to and from work, and Mia felt like she was in a totally different world.

* * *

Tiana walked into the kitchen to see how everything was going. The cooks were hard at work, frying, boiling and flipping all the food in sight. She smiled at Naveen, who was ordering the chefs around.

"Now Naveen, what have I told you about harassing people?" she said, hands on her hips.

Her husband turned around, surprised.

He gave her a charming smile."Well uh, they are not working properly! I mean look at this man here. He cannot mince at all!"he said, pointing at the chef beside him. He pushed him to the side, took the knife and minced the vegetables within seconds. The chef crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Now Naveen, no need to be a show off. The poor man just came in last week. He's doing fine for a starter in Tiana's Place," she said, patting the chef's back and giving him his knife.

"Ah, you stick in the mud, I was just having some fun!" he said jovially.

She pointed a wooden spoon at him and said with a grin, "This stick in the mud's husband better get to work, or the special tonight will be Minced Naveen!"

"Okay okay! I shall get to work, no need to worry!" he said in mock fear. He laughed and gave Tiana a quick kiss before heading back to his station.

Tiana shook her head at her husband, but nevertheless a smile danced upon her lips as she went out the kitchen doors.

"I'd like to get some service here please," called a deep rich voice.

Tiana spun around to see a man sitting at a table with a tall menu covering his face.

_Strange,_ she thought. _Francis usually reminds me if there was someone waiting for service._

She walked over to him and asked, "What'll it be, mister?"

The man chuckled as he put down his menu. There sat Dr. Facilier. The man who Tiana had thought she had gotten rid of.

"Shadowman..." she breathed. Her blood ran cold.

"Miss me?" he asked with a smirk.

Tiana blinked rapidly, hoping she was just hallucinating. But no. He was still there, ill fitting suit, fancy shoes, black cane, skull top hat and all.

"You…you're supposed to be on the other side," she said. Suddenly breathing had become a chore.

He grinned; hand on the purple glass ball of his cane, enjoying the sight of Tiana trying to wrap her head around how he was back, and in her restaurant.

* * *

**I checked the fanfics for The Princess And The Frog, and alot of my ideas were already used, and I didn't really see anyone doing any time travel stuffstuffs, so I decided to do it myself. :)**

**Once again, it's my first fanfic, so don't flame! .**

**Reviews really motivate a writer to keep on writing ya know, so... ;) *hint hint***


	2. Unlucky Mia

**Disclaimer: WOOT! I own Facilier! W—what? I was outbid? DARN YOU DISNEY!!! D:**

**Enjoy the new chappie :)**

* * *

"Well little missy, Lawrence got out of jail, went into my parlour expectin' to find me there, and let's just say I sweet talked my friends on the other side into letting me go in exchange for the fat man. " said Facilier, grinning like a madman.

"But, Lawrence—he—you—" sputtered Tiana, like a stalled engine.

Facilier shook his head and chuckled. "The clumsy oaf broke a few things I had borrowed from my friends, causing em' to get mad. So, with a little encouragement from me, they decided that little ol' Larry would be more fun to mess around with than me, half dead as I was," he said. "So they took him in, spit me out, and here I am." He said standing up to his full intimidating height, smiling down at Tiana, who looked up at him with revulsion.

Naveen came out of the kitchen looking for Tiana.

"Tiana! One of the chefs accidentally cut his finger and won't stop cr—" he stopped short at the sight of his enemy that was supposedly gone forever, towering over Tiana.

Facilier saw the little diamond glitter in Tiana's small hand. He looked over at Naveen, and to his amusement, he was wearing a gold ring.

"Aw, you both got married? How sweet," he said mockingly.

Naveen walked over to Tiana. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, worried.

"I'm fine," she said, not looking at Naveen. "Now what do you want?" she asked Facilier testily.

He bent down so that his face was mere centimeters away from Tiana.

Tiana controlled the urge to back away and determinedly stared back into his violet eyes.

"Now Princess, why on earth would I let you know that?" he asked, chuckling quietly.

Naveen took a step forward, ready to defend Tiana if Facilier tried anything.

By now, everyone was staring in their direction.

"Then what exactly are you doing in my restaurant?" Tiana asked through gritted teeth.

Facilier threw his head back and started to laugh. "Why Princess, I just came in to let you know that the Shadowman is back in town!" he said with a wink. He took some purple powder out of his coat pocket and blew it, making a haze around him. When the powder settled, he was gone.

Everyone stared at the stony faced Tiana, waiting for her reaction.

"Someone clean this mess up," she said quietly, before walking off into the kitchen.

* * *

The town that Mia was in was a lively place, and she felt at home listening to the music she had listened to growing up.

But one thing she knew for sure. Wherever she was, it was very, very far back from 2015.

Mia's stomach rumbled loudly. She covered her stomach consciously, hoping no one heard. She saw a quaint little cafe just a street away.

She took out the few coins she had in her pocket and rolled them around in her fingers. She knew for sure that the coin would be different from what coin they had in this time. She wondered if she should go in and see the waitress' reaction to a 2015 Canadian two dollar coin.

_Gah. There's no other way I'm going to find out_, she thought, sighing as she walked down the street and through the doors.

She went and sat down at a table, head in her hands.

"Um, how may I help you miss?" asked a waitress. Mia looked up to see a waitress looking her over with a strange expression.

_What is with these people? I'm just another person. There's nothing different about me...is there?_

"Um, do you accept umm… these special Canadian coins?" Mia asked timidly, flashing the toonie at the woman, making sure the date was hidden under her fingers.

"Sorry miss, not in New Orleans we don't." she said, not unkindly.

New Orleans. She had wound up in New Orleans. It wasn't enough that she had ended up in the wrong place, it just had to be in a different country. She stared up at the woman, expressionless.

"Uh, miss...?" asked the waitress uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry," said Mia shaking her head in confusion. "Well, I'd best be going. Good day to you," and with that she walked out of the cafe, leaving a very bewildered waitress behind.

_New Orleans, New Orleans... _she thought, the name going round and round in her head like a merry-go-round. She knew that she was far off track, but not this far.

Why couldn't she have ended up in New York, or even Montana? Somehow she had managed to end up in one of the most southern states in the US.

She started to walk back to where she thought the time machine was, only to find out after 10 minutes of aimless wandering, that she had no idea where she had left it, even with the picture of the alley she had.

"God, this is really not fair. It's even less fair than the time Cooper took away my permission for using the new equipment that had come in a couple of months ago, and that _really_ wasn't fair." she said huffily, crossing her arms and looking up at the sky.

A few people walking past her tittered. She narrowed her eyes at them, and they quickly shuffled along.

She kicked a pebble in front of her, sighed, and started to walk down the street with no goal in mind.

* * *

Facilier breathed in the fresh air, something he hadn't been able to do for a long time. He stretched his legs underneath the table that he had set up on the sidewalk. On the side, he had purple and red signs with "Voodoo magic" and "Have your fortune told!" written on them, calling out to the naïve and to those new in town to be conned.

A gaggle of rich teenage girls came his way, talking and laughing. He smirked. Time to start the show.

"Ladies, ladies! Why don't you take a little rest from your evenin' stroll and find out what the future has in store for you?"

The women walked over, excited and intrigued, not even one with a shadow of suspicion upon her face. Facilier's shadow high fived his hand that was behind his back.

Hook, line and sinker.

* * *

"Ladies, ladies! Why don't you take a little rest from your evenin' stroll and find out what the future has in store for you?"

Mia turned around in the direction of the voice, and raised her eyebrows at the owner.

Standing across the street was the oddest man she had seen around town.

His prominent chin and high cheekbones would make his face stand out among the other even if he weren't so tall and peculiarly dressed. She found herself captivated yet wary of his violet eyes. She stared at the welcoming grin he gave the teenage herd. The gap between his two front teeth would have seemed charming, she thought, if his broad smile didn't seem so menacing.

He wore a top hat with a purple feather stuck on the side and had a purple glass topped cane in his hand, causing Mia's eyebrows to go farther up her forehead. He wore a tailcoat (_Another sign I'm way far back in time_, mused Mia) and trousers. Nothing odd about that. But the purple vest that he wore under his coat that exposed his brown abdomen certainly was.

_No shirt? If he wanted attention, he sure got it_, thought Mia, crossing her arms and wondering what "voodoo magic" he was going to conjure up.

"Mister, can you really tell us what our future is going to be?" asked an excited 16 year old.

"That and more," said the man, winking.

Mia rolled her eyes at the fake magician in front of her.

"Oh, did you hear that girls? He's going to tell us our future!" squealed the girl to her friends, making him cringe before quickly regaining his showman demeanor.

He opened his hand making sure all the girls could see and slowly closed it. When he opened it again, a deck of cards resided in his palm, eliciting oohs and aahs from the little group before him.

_Sleight of hand_, Mia thought shaking her head, but for some reason a tiny seed of doubt had planted itself snugly in her heart.

As the swindler asked them all one by one to pick three cards so he could tell them their past, present, and future, Mia noticed that his silhouette seemed to move about slightly, as if it wasn't really attached to him.

She narrowed her eyes at it, and it seemed to stop acting on its own accord.

_Okay, I am obviously very hungry and can't think or see straight_, thought Mia, irritated.

The yellow, orange and pink sky looked as if a child had playfully splashed paint across a canvas. She knew that the sun would be gone in a few minutes, and she would have nowhere to go. She may be in a different time, but one thing was still the same: if you're out at night alone, you're vulnerable.

She was so lost in her half woven plans of where to stay for the night and what to do, that she didn't notice a man walking right behind her, and when she turned they collided. She fell to the asphalt with a yelp.

* * *

Facilier finished telling the girls' their futures in 5 or so minutes.

Not a bad for the last batch of the day, he thought, smirking at the little stack of bills in front of him. Wealthy people, especially wealthy teenagers, didn't really know if they were giving too much money, and if they did, they didn't care.

He thought in disgust of the day he got a coin from conning a man, only to see Big Daddy Labouff drive by in his fancy car, giving a child a stack of bills for a newspaper.

"Ow!" Facilier looked up from his ill gotten earnings to see a young woman fall after running into a fat businessman. He was about to ignore the incident and pack up his stall when he looked carefully at the woman.

He started to laugh. The woman was wearing black canvas rubber soled shoes, fitting dark blue denim pants that only men wore in the poorer part of New Orleans, and a gray half sleeved shirt.

She blew her hair that was in cut in a boy like fashion, out of her gray eyes.

_What's that woman doing, looking like that in New Orleans?_ He thought, eyebrows rising in quiet speculation.

"I—I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, I—" she stammered, but probably decided it was best to just help the man up. He took her hand and got up, and she nearly buckled under his weight.

He pushed her away from him and she slammed into a brick wall as he walked away. She rubbed her shoulder, trying to soothe the pain while glaring at the man who didn't seem to notice that he had sent her flying.

_She may dress and cut her hair to look like a man, but she still has the femininity that every woman has_, he thought chuckling.

She turned her head, and their eyes met.

* * *

She turned her head to see if anyone had been watching and was about to walk away with her wounded pride and shoulder when she made eye contact with the swindler.

She glowered at the chuckling man before walking off angrily.

"Bastard," she muttered as she walked, not sure if she meant the fake magician or the man she had slammed into, or both.

The sun had set and the stars were starting to appear. She had stopped at a little restaurant to use a restroom an hour ago, but wasn't able to buy anything due to her _special_ coins.

She felt like crying. She had no way of getting back. No way of seeing James and the team, her mother, her friends, anyone she loved or cared for. She was even starting to miss Cooper, the skinny brilliant scientist with OCD who thought he was above all others.

She choked back the tears when she saw an alley.

"Maybe this is the one..?" she said softly, turning the corner. She was met with disappointment. There was a battered and rotting purple door with strange drawings on it leading to what looked like an empty building.

She was about to stomp out of the alley in frustration when she stopped to consider her situation.

She didn't have the machine, it was nighttime, and she needed a roof to take refuge under.

She looked hesitantly at the door. She took a deep breath and went up to the door, not noticing the sign above the door saying "Dr. Facilier's Parlour" because of the dark.

_No ones in there, who on earth would be in there? No one, that's who_, Mia reassured herself as she grasped the doorknob and opened the door, flinching when it made a squeak.

She stepped inside closed the door from behind her. It was pitch black, and she had to breathe deeply to keep from panicking and running away.

She had expected the air to be cold and drafty, but instead it was warm and electric.

She heard nothing, a sign of an abandoned building. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very wrong about the air.

"Calm down, you're being crazy. There is absolutely no one in here except for you. And maybe a few rats. But yeah. Only you. So there is _no_ reason for you to keep talking to yourself out loud like this just because you're scared. Anyhow, what kind of person would live in a place with a door like that? One that's creepy and eerie, that's who," Mia ranted under her breath, feeling safer with the sound of her voice.

"Why Mademoiselle, I take that insult to heart," said a velvety bass voice in mock grief, and Mia stumbled back, gasping.

The dark room suddenly shined bright with candles Mia covered her eyes, blinded.

She blinked quickly, putting her hands down and squinting at the silhouette of a tall man in front of her. Standing in front of her with a cane and a top hat on his head.

She didn't need to see anything else to know it was the voodoo man.

"You," she choked out, not sure if she was more horrified at her luck or at seeing him again.

All of a sudden, as if by itself, a lamp above their heads lit up, illuminating his features.

"A tip of the hat from Dr. Facilier," said the man with a smile, taking off his hat, displaying a wild mass of black hair to Mia, who was unable to move.

She stared up at Facilier with only one thought in mind: _God, have I got a bone to pick with you._

* * *

**Heheh, there you have it! Mia and Facilier's first face-to-face. :)**

**Thank you Ridha, for making my day in French class. "TU AS COMMIS LA CRIME?!" I told you I'd put this up on my authors note, you can't blame me :P**

**Anyhoo, I know that Facilier's escape is quite obscure and vague, but he didn't really want to tell Tiana the details. You will however, find out the details later on in the story. Like How Facilier still—no I'm not that nice. You'll find out when I post up the chapters. Patience is key. :)**

**Reviews are the voodoo to my Facilier ;) **


	3. Staying Over

**Disclaimer: Oh my god! I own Facilier?! Never mind the rest of them, but are you SERIOUS?! OMG YESSS!!!*starts dancing***

"**Marium! Wake up, you're going to be late for school!"**

**Me:…Dammit. **

* * *

"My name is..." she started, unsure on whether to tell her real name or not.

"Mia Winters. Enchanté." he said smoothly.

"How did you...?" she asked, frowning, trailing off at the end because she knew she wasn't going to get much more than a smug smile in response.

The little seed of doubt in her heart started to grow. _Con artist, fraud, swindler_, she chanted silently.

"I wasn't aware anyone occupied..." she waved her hand around, looked around the room they were in. There were ratty carpets covering the floor, books, skulls and strange looking dolls littering shelves. There were masks other old things hanging from the walls which were covered with the strange drawings she had seen on the door and long pieces of fabric hung from the ceiling.

"...this place?" she said lamely, uncertain of what exactly you would call the room.

He chuckled, "It's called an emporium Mademoiselle. Now what made you go into an alley and through my door this time of night?"

"I...Why don't _you_ tell me Dr. Facilier? Seeing as you _are_ a real voodoo witch doctor," she said, her expression begging to differ.

"Well _ma_ _cherie_, I can tell you your past, present and future if you let me read your cards," he said, a pack of cards materializing out of thin air and into his palm.

Mia looked intently at Facilier. He stared at her with a calculating expression.

"I have no money," she said flatly.

He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to ask for payment," he said.

His tilted his head down a centimeter, not breaking eye contact.

_Oh, I'm so sure you weren't_, thought Mia. She gasped as she felt something slip into her pocket and back out as quickly as it came.

She heard an eerie cackle behind her. She whipped around to see Facilier's shadow floating in front of her, grinning like a Cheshire cat with her money in its hand. She gasped and lunged for it only to hurtle into the wall.

"Ow.." she groaned, rubbing her shoulder which was still sore from the last injury inflicted on it.

"Give that back!" she demanded.

Facilier chuckled. "No money, eh Mia?"

Mia thought of the date on the coins. 2015. If he really was a voodoo witch doctor and he found out she was from the future, she didn't know how, but she knew she would be screwed.

"It's not normal money! I mean-- It doesn't have any value in New Orleans. In, err, Virginia it does," she said breathlessly. "Just give it back," she said, a hint of desperation trickling into her tone.

"Very well," he said, nodding to his shadow. The shadow floated over and dropped the money in her outstretched hand, leering at her all the while. She scowled at the wicked thing before stuffing the money down her pocket.

_If I had put the money in my back pocket…_ she thought suppressing a shudder. That would have been extremely awkward.

She looked up to see Facilier looking at her with a strange expression. She suddenly felt very small.

"Would you like me to read your cards? I don't want payment," he said with a smile, but his gaze didn't falter.

"Okay," she said hesitantly.

"Right this way," he said walking to the table at the end of the room.

* * *

"I have no money," she said, matter-of-factly.

He resisted the urge to smile.

"I wasn't going to ask for payment," he said, which as unusual as it may be, was true.

He knew there was something very different about her. From the way she walked, the way she dressed and her manner, he knew that she wasn't from Louisiana. Or anywhere near Louisiana.

His shadow had creeped up behind her. She was oblivious to anything strange going on, staring right back at Facilier.

**Should I check?** asked Shadow, hand hovering over her pocket.

Ever so slightly, he tilted his head down in consent, and it slithered into her pocket and brought out a few coins.

She gasped in surprise and turned around. Shadow smiled and simply floated over her head as she ran into the wall trying to get her money back.

"Give that back!" she yelled, turning around, wincing as she held her right shoulder tightly.

"No money, eh Mia?" said Facilier, laughing. The girl didn't trust him, but that was to be expected. It was one of the qualities she had that was different from most women in the south: being wary.

"It's not normal money! I mean-- It doesn't have any value in New Orleans. In, err, Virginia it does," she said, nearly stumbling over her words. "Just give it back," she said, and Facilier knew that there was something she didn't want him to know.

Instead of taking the coins and inspecting them to see what she wanted to keep hidden, he motioned to his shadow to give her back her money.

She hastily stuffed them down her pocket, glowering at his shadow.

He stared into her eyes, looking for her past, present and future, but what he saw was murky and confusing.

His instincts told him that there was a vital piece of information that was missing. Something very obvious, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

She shrunk back slightly, intimidated by his stare.

"Would you like me to read your cards? I don't want payment," he said with a small smile, still trying to understand why the people he saw in her past were shadowy and dim.

She looked at him uneasily, but nevertheless consented, and he led her to the table at the end of his dusty old emporium.

* * *

Right as she was about to pull her chair in, it was pushed in for her and she fell into the chair unceremoniously. Facilier's shadow came around from behind her chair, did a little bow, winked and glided away.

She made a face at the shadow, earning a chuckle from Facilier as he sat down in the chair in front of her.

He started shuffling the cards, and they flew through the air gracefully and landed in his hand, not one falling out of the pile.

_Okay, even really good magicians can't make their cards fly around like that_, thought Mia, frowning.

She knew that magic tricks took tons of preparation, and she doubted that he had expected someone to turn up at this time of night. He looked at her as he shuffled his cards around, like he had noticed something different about her.

She tried to squash that seed of doubt that incessantly whispered, "He's not a fraud Mia, magic is real…" to no avail.

Facilier fanned out the cards in front of her and she took three without him asking.

He smirked. "I'm guessing you were there during one of my card readings?"

"Hard not to not to pay attention to how a swindler conned a few young naïve women out of their money," she said smoothly.

"You think magic isn't real, Mademoiselle?" he asked in a low tone, bringing his face ever so slightly closer to hers.

"Certainly no—" she said irritably, but stopped short.

_The curtain…_ she thought, gripping the table.

She had noticed that the pattern on the curtain behind Facilier had slightly resembled skulls with crossbones, but when his shadow came in front of the tapestry, the pretty pattern was stripped away, revealing menacing skulls with crossbones staring at her.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She stared at the skull and crossbones on his top hat.

"Notice something, _ma cherie_?" he chuckled.

* * *

_Okay, even really good magicians can't make their cards fly around like that,_ thought Mia, and Facilier looked at her in surprise.

_So I can read her thoughts, but not her memories…_ he mused, wondering what was different about the woman compared to the others as he finished shuffling his cards and fanned them out in front of her.

Before he could tell her what to do, she timidly picked three and he started to laugh.

"I'm guessing you were there during one of my card readings?"

"Hard not to not to pay attention to how a swindler conned a few young naïve women out of their money," she shot back.

He grinned, realizing she was a woman who didn't believe in magic, one who depended on logic to get her around in life.

"You think magic isn't real, Mademoiselle?" he asked, leaning in towards her.

"Certainly no—" she started to say, but stopped suddenly as if she had seen a ghost.

_The curtain…_ she thought as she grasped the table, her knuckles turning white.

"Notice something?"he said, taking pleasure in the look on her face.

Many people had come into his emporium to have their cards read, yet she was the only person who had noticed what his shadow did to the pattern on the curtain.

_She is certainly the observant one… _

* * *

_No. No, no, no, no and no. This can't be true. Magic isn't real…right?_ She thought frantically. She had believed in magic when she was a little girl, when her head was filled with fairytales and fantasies. She had stopped believing in magic many, many years ago.

"It's all real Mia," his voice, enchanting and alluring, coaxing her gently to believe him.

She shook her head, as if she could get the ridiculous notion out of her mind by the action.

_Wait… did he read my mind just then?_ She thought, stiffening, but he made no signal that he had heard her this time.

_Of course not, he's just a fraud. Even though he _is_ quite charismatic…_ she admitted to herself.

"Glad to hear you think that," he said silkily. She stared at him, wide eyed.

_Oh dear god_, she thought, staring at the man before her who suddenly looked much more dangerous than before. Her head started to whirl and she started to blabber things like _This cannot be happening, what the hell, how on earth—what is this?!_

"It's all real Mia," he repeated, chuckling, and she slumped back in her chair, drained from what the day had thrown at her.

"I… so _you_, can read, _my_ mind," she said slowly, pausing at the wrong times and emphasizing the wrong words, unable to believe the words escaping her lips.

"Indeed I can. Hope I didn't give y'all a scare," he said, his voice slightly concerned, but when she looked up into his eyes she could only see plain amusement.

She rubbed her forehead and groaned. "Just—just tell me my past, present and future," she said, waving at the cards she had picked, her hand covering her eyes.

"But I thought I was just a charismatic fraud," he said mockingly.

Her cheeks colored, remembering the thought. She slowly put her other hand on her face, hoping he wouldn't notice the rush of color.

"Just do it," she said, her voice muffled.

"I think you'll need to see the images on the cards Mia. Perhaps you should put your hands down?" he said, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

She slowly put her hands down, and Facilier chuckled quietly. She sighed, knowing what he was laughing at. Whenever she blushed, she would look like she had put 10 pounds of rouge on each cheek, and the rest of her face was as white as normal.

_Perfect, the first time I use that damn time machine I end up in 1938 or whatever time this is, and the only seemingly empty place I can find is in a voodoo witch doctor's emporium_, she thought sarcastically.

She gestured to the cards saying, "I'm guessing each one represents my past, present and future?"

Facilier simply stared. He looked her over, and she suddenly felt conscious about her appearance.

"Do I have anything in my hair…?" she asked timidly, running her hand through it.

"No, just thought I saw a spider," he said, relaxing with a strangely satisfied smile.

"Spider?" she breathed nervously, looking at her clothes and feeling her hair once again.

"I _thought_ I did. Nothing to worry about darlin'," he said, and she relaxed, but felt slightly on edge from the smile he'd given her.

* * *

_Wait… did he read my mind just then?_ She thought, and her body became rigid. She looked up at him and he looked back at her as if he hadn't heard.

_Of course not, he's just a fraud. Even though he _is_ quite charismatic…_ she thought, chewing the inside of her cheek.

_Charismatic, hmm?_ He thought, pleased that he had gotten some type of hold on her.

"Glad to hear you think that," he said, his expression calm and cool.

_Oh dear god_, she thought as she stared at him, and he could hear her trying to get a hold on reality, talking nonstop to herself.

"It's all real Mia," he said again with amusement, and she slumped in her chair, defeated.

"I… so _you_, can read, _my_ mind," she said, trying to understand the words she was saying.

"Indeed I can. Hope I didn't give y'all a scare," he said feigning concern, causing her to look up in surprise only to make a face at the obvious amusement sparkling in his purple eyes.

"Just—just tell me my past, present and future," she said tiredly as she rubbed her forehead.

_Pretty little thing must have had quite a day_, he thought, smirking.

"But I thought I was just a charismatic fraud," he said, making her cheeks color.

She put her other hand on her face, trying to cover the sudden rush of blood.

"Just do it," she said, her voice muffled from behind her hands.

"I think you'll need to see the images on the cards Mia. Perhaps you should put your hands down?" he smirked.

She put her hands down and Facilier found it hard not to chuckle. She looked like a clown, her cheeks bright red while the rest of her face remained the same color.

_Perfect, the first time I use that damn time machine I end up in 1938 or whatever time this is, and the only seemingly empty place I can find is in a voodoo witch doctor's emporium_, she thought sardonically.

"I'm guessing each one represents my past, present and future?" she asked, pointing at the three cards laid out on the table.

Facilier stared at her, surprised. She was from the future, as implausible as it seemed. That was the reason he couldn't see her memories properly.

His gaze raked over her, finally understanding her strange clothing and haircut.

"Do I have anything in my hair…?" she asked, running her hand through it but finding nothing.

_The girl didn't even realize that she's let out her secret_, he thought, smiling in satisfaction as he explored her memories which were now crystal clear.

"No, just thought I saw a spider," he said leaning back in his chair, grinning from ear to ear.

"Spider?" she asked anxiously, checking her clothes and hair.

"I thought I did. Nothing to worry about darlin'," he said, smiling as she looked at him, slightly unnerved.

* * *

"Okay…so…the cards?" she asked, ready to get it over with and get out of the place, although she had no idea where she was going to go.

He flipped over the first card. "This represents your past," the image on the card showed a woman holding a baby alone in a field. "You were raised by your mother because your father died a couple of months before you were born. She was a strong independent young woman and made sure you both had enough money to live comfortably. Everyone says you're your momma's girl," he said, enjoying the irritated look on her face.

She dug her nails into her palm, seething at the fact that the man knew this.

"Anything wrong, _ma cherie_?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing at all. Continue please," she said coolly.

He flipped over the second card. Mia stared at the image. It was her. She was standing in front of a wall with a few people standing next to her. On the other side of the wall was a group of people trying to bring it down.

"What does that mean?" she asked, confused.

"You're like your mother, strong and independent, but it's very hard to break through your shell. You don't let anyone into your heart easily, and if anyone does get in, they usually stay there," he said with a wink. Mia blinked rapidly and stared at him, eyebrows far up her forehead.

He twirled the card in his fingers and the image changed. It was her again, only she was on the floor, her little face bemused. The little birds flying over her animated head made her crack a tiny smile.

She looked up at Facilier's face for answers.

"You may be like your momma, but you're real clumsy and have a terrible sense of direction. You pride yourself on being strong, but you don't really know how vulnerable you really are," he said in his charming low voice, his eyes piercing into Mia's.

She felt shaken, trying to grasp how he had said everything about her so easily, as if he had known it all his life. She didn't notice the few drops of blood that had trickled down her palm.

Facilier looked at her and chuckled. He reached for her hand and smoothed it out, looking intently at the little crescents that she had gauged into her palm.

"Now why on earth would you do that, Mademoiselle?" he murmured, looking up at her face.

She stared back expressionless, hardly daring to breathe, but didn't pull her hand away.

He whispered an incantation as he ran his thumb over the moon shaped injuries that were beginning to scar, and all of a sudden her hand felt like it was on fire and trapped in ice at the same time. She controlled the urge to cry out, but the pain vanished as quickly as it had come.

He pulled his hand away, satisfied. She looked down at her hand which had no evidence that she had cut her palm with her nails.

She looked up at him, brow furrowed. _Why…?_ She thought, bewildered.

He smirked and shook his head. "Shall we continue?" he asked.

"Go ahead," she said; still trying to comprehend what was the motive behind his action.

His smirk broadened as he played with the card. "You're not from here," he said.

"I think we established that I was from Virginia, so yeah, I'm not from here," she said cautiously, not sure of what he knew.

"Oh no, _ma cherie_," he chuckled. "you're definitely not from Virginia either," and Mia knew he knew everything.

She stiffened, not knowing what to expect.

"Relax darlin', I won't bite," he said, and she heaved a sigh as she ran her hand through her messy black hair, frustrated.

"As I was sayin', you're not from here. You know absolutely no one here, have nowhere to stay, and that contraption of yours won't take you back to your time. Am I right?"

"Yes…" she said sullenly, hating the fact that he knew how helpless she was.

She could have sworn she saw him wink at his shadow which was lurking in a corner before picking up the final card.

"Ahh, very interesting," he said, looking intently at the card.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"It seems to me young lady, that you will be staying here for the night," he said with a grin, making her jaw drop.

"Since when?" she asked incredulously. She couldn't help but thinking that she had been cheated in a way. She was expecting more of 'what's going to happen to you in 10 years from now' kind of thing.

He merely chuckled and threw the card up in front of her, where it hung there, suspended in front of her face. She stared at the image. It was her sleeping in a bed in a dark room, and on the other side of the wall was the emporium, as shabby and creepy as it was in real life.

"Thank you for your services," she said quietly as she got up and turned to go to the door. He however, made no move to stop her.

As she started to turn the doorknob, he asked amusedly, "And where exactly are you intending to go, _ma cherie_?" She let go of the knob and sighed, knowing he knew her situation very well.

She turned around to face him, crossing her arms. "Fine. I don't have anywhere to stay. No need to rub it in my face. But the money I have would be of no use to you," she said.

"Now who said I was going to ask for payment?" he asked, frowning.

"Are you kidding me?" she let out a derisive laugh. "You may be a real voodoo witch doctor, but it doesn't take much to know that you aren't trustworthy. I don't know what you're up to--" but was cut short when he walked across the room in a few strides (_This man has seriously long legs_, she thought) and towered over her, causing her to take a step back and find herself pressed against the wall.

"Even if I was up to something Mia, you really aren't in a position to make the deals here, are you?" he said, and she could hear the undertone of venom in his friendly tone.

"I..." she began, but didn't know what to say. She looked over his shoulder to see his shadow smiling psychotically. She shuddered, looking back up at Facilier, whose violet eyes were boring into hers, and she quickly looked down, hoping that the whole mind reading thing that he did only worked with eye contact.

"Oh, I can read your mind just as easily without eye contact," he said smoothly.

Mia let out a stream of profanities in her head as she looked up at him with a sickly sweet smile and said, "Nice to know."

"So, have we got ourselves a deal?" he asked, eyes sparkling with darkness.

_You want something from me, I don't trust you, I have no idea why I'm doing this…_ she rambled on in her head while looking as composed as can be on the outside, earning her a devilish grin from him.

"Deal," she said coolly, sticking out her hand. He shook it, and she almost shivered at his touch.

"Right this way," he said leading her down the emporium to a chest of drawers. She gave him a quizzical look. He smiled and turned the knob of the first shelf 3 times clockwise, and the while chest disappeared into the floor, revealing a room.

He snapped his fingers and a little oil lamp that was hanging from the ceiling lit up. The room was small and shabby, but nowhere near as creepy as the rest of the emporium. It had a small bed and night table in the middle of the floor, and the only thing on the wall was a quilt with the weird drawings that she had become familiar with since she had entered the place.

_This is so very wrong..._ she thought, biting her lip. She hardly _knew_ the man, yet she was sleeping in his guest room, or whatever it was used for. She knew she couldn't do anything about the squirmy feeling she had. If she left, her martial art skills (from the Tae Kwon Do classes that her mother had forced her into) would be of no use against someone much bigger than her in the dead of the night.

"You can stay here for the night," he said to her, enjoying the obvious displeasure on her face.

"How exactly am I supposed to get out?" she asked, remembering that the 'door' was actually a chest of drawers, and there were no knobs to turn on the back.

"You will be able to get out in the morning. Surely you weren't planning to leave right when I left you alone, now were you? Good night Mademoiselle," he said, smile full of malice as he stepped out of the room and the chest of drawers started to come up. She stared horrified as it closed up the room, leaving her with absolutely no way out.

"Oh come _on_!" she yelled, her voice echoing in the small room. She threw herself face first onto the bed, wishing that the ground would open and swallow her alive. The smell on the sheets smelled like ginger and cinnamon, and she could detect a hint of sandalwood in it as well.

She suddenly felt something soft land on her head and she jolted up and turned around, breathing heavily, half expecting Facilier to be behind her. She turned around to look on the bed, and she saw a white cotton fabric that was folded neatly. She apprehensively picked it up and opened it.

She stared at the thing, wide eyed. It was a night gown.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no and no. There is _no_ way, that I'm sleeping at a creepy voodoo dude's place and wearing a night gown from him on the same day," she said loudly, shaking her head vehemently and crossing her arms, hoping he was listening. She felt childish, but it was _awkward_ and _wrong_ in so many ways.

She picked it up with her thumb and index finger and placed it on the night table as if it was infectious.

She sat down on the bed, hugging her knees and rocking herself slowly. She had nearly forgotten about the fact that she had no way of getting home in the confusion of meeting Dr. Facilier.

_James, Mom, Cooper, Hofstadter, all of you guys, I hope I'll see you again_, she thought as she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

* * *

He chuckled at the horrified look on her face as he left her in the room. He went into his own room, where his shadow was waiting.

**So… How'd it go? **It asked, smiling widely.

"I don't think she took kindly to me locking her in that room," he said chuckling.

**You didn't really lock her in, did you?**

"If she twists the knob on the night table 3 times, it'll open up. Not that she knows that."

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no and no. There is _no_ way, that I'm sleeping at a creepy voodoo dude's place and wearing a night gown from him on the same day," he heard her say loudly, obviously trying to make sure he heard.

He laughed at the term she had used for him, but Shadow scowled, not liking what she had called his master.

**Why did you heal her?**

"To gain her trust, little by little."

His shadow cocked its head to the side quizzically.

**I thought she was just 'staying for the night'? **

"Oh, she'll be coming back tomorrow," he said confidently.

**What makes you so sure of that? **It asked, interested in what Facilier's plan was.

"She seems quite perceptive. We'll use that against her," he said with a satisfied smirk.

Shadow smiled. Whatever he had in mind, it was going to be fun…

* * *

**This thing is so long. =| I spent about 3-4 lunches just wolfing down my lunch and running to the library for some quiet time to work on this.**

**Did anyone else notice the curtain thing when they watched the movie? It was creepy yet so cool, so I just had to put it into my fanfic. :)**

**Anyhoo, I know it must have been confusing switching the POVs, with some starting in the middle of what happened and repeating it, or just starting where the last POV had left off, and for that I'm sorry! :P**

**I got like 1 review for my 2****nd**** chapter! D: **

**Even if you want to tell me you hate it to little bits, just review (:**


	4. Rough Night

**Disclaimer: *Tries drawing Facilier on notebook during French class* **

"**Marium, what's the answer to question 7?"**

"**Uhh, Facile! Eee…er?"**

"**Yes the answer is **_**facile**_**, easy, if you were paying attention."**

***Class giggles***

***Buries head in arms* **

* * *

"James! Mom! You guys I'm back!" she yelled as she stepped out of the time machine. The place was empty.

She looked out at the field and the garage, confused. She remembered how James had made sure everyone saw the dates that she was supposed to arrive, writing it in red marker on the calendar, even going as far as making sure her mother would be there on those dates.

Someone would have probably been out in the field to see if she was going to come.

"If James is up to his old tricks again..." she grumbled, remembering the all those times that she was looking for him and he jumped out from a random spot, making her shriek like a little girl.

But there was no one outside, and she couldn't hear a thing from inside the gleaming metal walls of the garage.

"James...Cooper, where are you guys?" she asked anxiously, her stomach knotting up. Something was definitely wrong. She hastily typed in the password for the padlock on the side door of the garage, fingers fumbling, hoping they were just trying to scare her.

"Password not accepted," said the mechanical voice. She kicked the wall frustrated, and immediately regretted it.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," she muttered, grimacing at the pain shooting up her foot.

_This thing is bigger than 3 houses put together, don't know why we call it a garage_, she thought irritably as she typed in the password again.

The door opened and Mia quickly slipped in, all her senses alert.

It was quiet and dark, and she couldn't find the switch for the lights. Even the huge monitors that were on the walls were off, and they rarely were.

"James? Where are you?" she asked timidly, but she got no response.

"Okay, this is so not—oof!" she said, the breath knocked out of her as she smacked into a table.

"For god's sake, turn on the lights at least!" she yelled, and as if on cue, all the lights turned on.

She blinked a few times, seeing nothing but a white haze for a few seconds before her vision cleared.

The first floor was empty, the computers all off and chairs tucked into the desks, quite unlike the usual clutter of chairs, each about 10 feet away from its owner's desk. She looked up overhead, half expecting them to be standing there on the second floor, tittering quietly as she tried to find them.

_They're not here._ She thought, almost emotionless._  
_  
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice reverberating throughout the garage.

"_Bonjour,_ _ma cherie_," said a rich velvety voice that was horrifyingly familiar.

She whipped around to see him sitting comfortably on a chair, his legs up on a desk.

"How the hell did you get here Facilier?" she asked calmly, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her.

"I wasn't just going to let you go back to your own time, now was I?" he said, frowning a little, but she could see the smirk lying beneath.

"Where are they, and what have you done with them?" she asked quietly.

"They're safe in a room on the second floor."

She stared at the doll in his hand. It was her. He slowly pulled a needle out of thin air, smiling at her terrified expression.

"No…" she whispered.

He rose up from the chair walking towards her calmly, her life in his hands.

Literally.

She didn't breathe, didn't move a muscle although her instincts were telling her to scream and tackle him.

"D—don't, _please_—" she choked out as she backed away, barely audible.

Suddenly everything turned into a blur, and the last thing she saw was him grinning malevolently, the needle approaching her voodoo doll's heart before her vision went black.

* * *

She woke up in a panic, drenched in sweat.

"Okay, that was damn scary," she said between deep breaths, feeling disoriented from her sudden jolt.

She felt disgustingly damp, and the airy looking night gown on the night table suddenly seemed much more appealing than before.

She peeled off her clothes and threw them on the bed and slipped on the night gown, which surprisingly was long and fit perfectly.

She sighed contentedly, waving her legs in the air as she sat on the edge of the bed, happy to be free of the skinny jeans that were sticking to her skin.

She pulled out her cell phone from her jean pocket, praying that her technology wasn't affected by the time she was in.

"Yes," she whispered triumphantly as the dim glow of her cell phone read 2:30 AM.

_But the time zone must be different, seeing as I'm in Louisiana and the time on this was set in Toronto…_ she thought, feeling crestfallen as she put her cell phone back in the pocket.

All of a sudden, the little light that was left in the oil lamp gave out, plunging Mia into darkness.

"Can this get any worse?" she muttered to herself, laying her head back down. Instead of her head coming in contact with a thin pillow, her head hit the headboard.

"Sorry I asked," she said irritably, rubbing her head which had been smacked around quite a few times for one day.

She laid her hurting head down on the pillow tenderly.

_Home…_ that single solitary word meant everything. She could have met her father any other time. It wasn't like he was waiting. She could have gone even a year later. If only she hadn't been so impatient…

She stared up at where the ceiling was, but with all the surprises she had gotten throughout the day, for all she knew the ceiling might not even be there anymore.

_Why did I end up here? Why was I such an idiot? Why didn't I take James with me? _

The 'whys' swirled around in her head, tormenting her.

_For God's sake, you're 20 years old, get a grip_, she thought as she angrily wiped away the few tears that had escaped her eyes. She suddenly realized that Facilier was right.

"You don't know how vulnerable you really are…" his dark voice echoed in her head. She scowled as she thought of the card reading.

Her mind was supposed to be the only thing that no one could ever get to. The place where her dark thoughts lurked. Where every secret, good or bad, stayed hidden. Impenetrable. Every smile, laugh and tear that was meant only for _her_ to know.

Yet he had easily scoured the labyrinth behind her elusive gray eyes, reading everything that she had so carefully kept hidden, and listening to every thought as if she had spoken them aloud.

"Damn creepy voodoo man…" she mumbled, and exhaustion came over her like a wave crashing upon a shore as she was taken as its victim, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.

She woke up; her biological clock telling her it was early morning.

Back home, she'd wake up at 2 in the afternoon if she didn't have to get up before. She'd stay in bed, staring at the ceiling or have her head under the pillow, absolutely refusing to get out of her warm fluffy haven.

Right now, she was quite eager to get out of bed. She got up quickly, looking around the walls for some type of lever or piece brick that she could pull or push on to get her out of there.

She couldn't help but yawn as she went around the room dazedly, patting the bricks. She wasn't used to getting up suddenly, and then trying to find something that she was beginning to think wasn't even there.

_I can't believe this man_, she thought exasperatedly as she sat down on the edge of the bed, stretching like a cat.

_Way too early…wayyy….too….early…._

She started to fall back onto the bed, but she was unfortunately way too close to the corner of the mattress and slipped off. She hastily grabbed onto the night table's knob and it spun wildly, making her lose her grip and hit her head on the corner of the table.

She saw stars in her vision, and fought against the unconsciousness that was trying to take over.

She touched the side of her head softly, feeling a wet sticky liquid on her fingers.

_Oh great…_ she thought, looking up at the sudden rumbling noise that filled her ears.

The chest of drawers was sliding down.

"Huh?" she looked at the night table's knob suspiciously. She turned it back to how it was before she had fallen, and the chest of drawers went up.

She grinned. "HA! Ha…Facilier…I found _OUT_!" she said weakly, the sane part of her mind telling her she was losing blood.

She moved drunkenly, falling onto the bed once she had hoisted herself up.

"I _win_! I win…" she said in feeble triumph, and a stream of giggles escaped her lips.

She started to laugh insanely, rolling on the bed and getting caught in the sheets. She shook with uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming from her eyes.

_You've gone a little loopy…_ said the sober part of her brain sarcastically as she kept howling, clutching her sides.

* * *

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!HA….HAA!!!" came her voice from the other room.

Facilier got up, bewildered and dazed.

"What the _hell_…?" he mumbled as he stumbled out of his room towards the direction of the insane laughter.

He groggily searched his pockets for his powder. He put a bit in his palm and blew it, creating a purple cloud in front of him.

She was the one laughing. She was tangled in the sheets, laughing her little head off, and he could see a bit of blood dripping from her temple.

And she was wearing the night gown.

His bad mood vanished, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her.

He looked through her memories of the night, and suddenly stopped at her dream.

_Interesting,_ he thought. _She already had a bit of knowledge about voodoo before she came here…_

His grin broadened at the sight of her almost intoxicated, trying to scramble back onto the bed.

He shook his head at the girl's state. Her laughs were fading, and she was slowly coming back to her senses.

_The girl must have lost quite a bit of blood…_

She would be easy to get use. _Very_ easy.

He pulled out a small scrap of paper and scribbled a little note. He snapped his fingers, and the note disappeared from his hand and onto the night table in her room. He thought for a moment before snapping his fingers again. He smiled in satisfaction at the purple cloud before he returned to his chamber.

* * *

Her laughter died out, and she was left with a throbbing head.

"That was really stupid," she said to herself, torn between annoyance and amusement. She had to admit, it had been quite enjoyable.

She wondered how her deranged peals of laughter hadn't caused Facilier to barge into the room yet.

She delicately touched her head wound.

"Ew." The blood around the injury had dried and a small patch of hair had become hard and sticky.

It must be around 7 o' clock by now…but then again, with absolutely no light in this room it can be 4:30 in the afternoon, she thought sarcastically.

She took out her cell phone again and set the settings to keep the backlight on until she turned it off.

She sighed and turned to face her head towards the night table.

"What—?!" There was a blue cloth folded neatly with a note on it. She cautiously picked up the note and read his messy scrawl: _Y'all don't fit in with the clothes you got, so wear this dress. Or It'll wear you._

Mia sat there in shock, feeling dense.

_No wonder everyone kept staring at me strangely. There are absolutely no women who wear pants in this time_, she thought, smacking her forehead with her hand. _How could I have not noticed that?_

She stared at the last line.

_Or it'll wear you… how? _She thought, perplexed.

She picked up the dress and unfolded it. It was a simple yet elegant blue dress that would easily cover her knees.

She put the dress down on the bed and childishly stuck her tongue out at it.

"There is no way that I'm wearing you," she said huffily, starting to wonder why she had been talking to inanimate objects lately.

The dress suddenly flew up into the air, hovering in front of her face.

_So much for inanimate_, she thought, staring bug eyed at the piece of clothing.

It started to come closer to her, but she quickly pulled out the little Swiss Army gadget (that James had insisted to keep in her sock, saying she needed protection) out, making it stop in midair.

"Yeah, you got that right," she muttered, keeping the little knife steady.

"I suppose that's what Facilier meant by 'wearing me'. Anyhow, you get any closer and I swear I'll tear you up into nice little blue ribbons," she said threateningly, and it backed away slowly.

She closed the knife into its little compartment and put it back into the little pocket hidden in her sock.

Big mistake.

The dress attacked her, stuffing itself onto her head.

"Mrff!" she exclaimed, trying to get the wretched thing off of her.

"Facilier—get the hell _over_ here!" she screeched as soon as she got a chance to breathe.

* * *

He came out of his room, amused.

"What is it?"

"Your damn—mrr—_**dress**_—is suffocating me!" she yelled, clearly having trouble with said dress.

He chuckled, conjuring a purple cloud to see the spectacle.

She had fallen onto the floor and was trying to get the dress off of her, which had successfully managed to get over her head.

"Call the darn thing off!" she yelled as she roughly tossed the dress off of her and scrambled to get up off the floor.

"Now _ma cherie_, I can't help you with that. Either you wear it, or it wears you."

"_Get it off me_!" she growled as it assaulted her again, this time nearly choking her.

"Wear it, or it wears you," he repeated, amused, eliciting a screech from her.

"Fine! Fine god damn it, just _GET IT OFF ME_!"

"Very well," he said, and the dress went limp.

* * *

She looked down at herself. One arm was in a sleeve and the other was pinned to her side, and it felt extremely uncomfortable seeing as she had a dress on already.

"You got it on me, so take it off me so I can wear it properly," she said venomously, and it quickly slipped off her and landed neatly on the bed.

"Thank you…" she muttered.

She quickly changed her clothes, feeling uncomfortable as she did so.

_His clothes, Facilier's clothes, creeper's clothes_, she chanted in her head as she twisted the knob on the little table, touching her head wound as she remembered the laughing incident.

She folded her clothes, making sure her cell phone was in a zippered pocket before she stepped out quietly, looking around for Facilier.

_Must be in his room_, she thought, but she didn't mind. It would be much less awkward to go when he wasn't around.

She turned around and nearly slammed into him.

"Sorry," she said, flustered.

His eyes raked over her body and the intensity of his gaze made her look down to make sure she was wearing the dress.

"You look… acceptable," he said dismissively, scrunching up his nose as if there was a stench in the air.

She glared at him. Acceptable? Miss Hot she was not, but she certainly didn't look like someone who you would say 'acceptable' to as if you were being _generous_ with your terms.

"I hope you enjoyed your night?" he asked, his purple eyes full of amusement.

She grimaced, thinking of the nightmare, the insane laughter and the dress assault.

"It was fine," she said, forcing herself to look into his eyes.

"Where will you be staying?"

"In my time machine once I find…" she trailed off, thinking of how exactly she was going to find it.

"Are you sure you'll find it?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"I know I will," she said confidently, her determination fueled by his doubt.

"Err, thanks for the room, and clothes, and…yeah," she muttered, blushing as he chuckled.

"Don't mention it, _ma cherie_," he said smirking, showing her to the door.

The door opened and Mia could see that it was about 8 o' clock in the morning.

She turned around to face Facilier and awkwardly stuck out her hand.

He shook it, and Mia felt a tingly feeling running down her spine at his touch.

"Goodbye," she said as she started to walk away.

"Mademoiselle," he called and she turned around, giving him a questioning look.

"It's 1924," he said with a smile, and shut the door.

The year spun around in her head, but she shook her head knowing it was to be expected at the speed she had been travelling at.

She walked out of the alley, hoping she was ready for what the day had in store for her.

* * *

He chuckled at Mia's shocked expression as he closed the door.

**What's your plan to get her to come back?** Asked his shadow.

"You'll have to do a little job for me," he said, smirking at the smile that spread across Shadow's face.

After a few minutes of explanation, his shadow still wasn't convinced of his plan.

**What if she doesn't?**

"Leave that to me. All you have to do is take it when she does," said Facilier, and Shadow couldn't help but think it's master was being overconfident.

**Alright…** said Shadow doubtfully.

"Trust me, it'll all go according to plan," he said, grinning broadly.

Shadow grinned as he slipped from under the door and out into the alley.

**The girl isn't going to like this**, he said cackling as he flew off.

* * *

**Yush, I know this chappie is kind of messed up, but that's what happens when you write most of your stuff at night. :P**

**I swear, during Mia's laugh attack I started to giggle insanely as well. And when I wrote the part where she was yawning I had a yawn coming on too XD**

**Anyhow, hope you kind of like this piece of junk (and no I am not fishing for compliments, I really just don't like this chapter) but it was all I could come up with thanks to all the homework I have. **

**Yes, I'm only fifteen, but when you got luck like Mia's when it comes to teachers... :P**

**Reviews are appreciated! ;D**


	5. Shadows and Mishaps

**Disclaimer: YES DISNEY! I OWN FACILIER! LET'S JUST SEE WHAT YOU DO ABOUT IT!**

***In jail* : …oh.**

**Thanks for the few people that reviewed and the many people that favorited and put me on their alerts :)**

**has erased all my lines for my POVs although I've been trying to fix it by replacing the chapter several time but it just won't work .**

**So, I'll have **(________ POV)** and ***__ minutes later*** instead of lines to separate everything.**

(Start of chapter)

She had been walking around for a couple of hours, but every alley she ran into feeling around for her invisible machine was empty.

Mia felt less alienated due to the dress she had on which made her fit in with everyone. A small comfort.

She frowned down at the blue fabric, as if it would come alive any moment.

_It already did what it was supposed to do, what would it do now, eat me?_ An involuntary giggle escaping at the thought.

_My mind has liquefied quite a bit since I've landed here, hasn't it?_

She wasn't the type to giggle. The only time she'd laugh as insanely as she did earlier was if she was being tickled.

And she most certainly wasn't the type to give in to anyone. Not to creepy voodoo doctors, or their pretty dresses.

_**Pretty?**_

_Okay, you've gotta admit, it is pretty!_

_**I think you were right about your mind being liquefied.**_

_Well technically, you're liquefied too since I'm talking to you, and you're in my mind._

…_**True.**_

_Thought so._

It was hard to keep from shuddering when she thought of Facilier. There was something dangerous and dark about him, but it was oddly appealing. Like a sweet smelling Venus flytrap, its jaws open innocently for an unsuspecting fly to come along for a little rest.

She hoped she wasn't a stupid fly.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, and she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything since she had left the garage.

She pulled out the coins from her jean pocket about to throw them away angrily when she realized that the coins weren't there. It was folded up bills.

"What…?" she said, perplexed as she unfolded them.

They were American one dollar bills. She didn't know whether to feel shocked or grateful.

"Okay…?" she said uncertainly, pocketing them in the small pocket that was at the front of her dress.

She suddenly remembered that she had at least 20 dollars in the small pocket of her jeans where she had put her cell phone.

She quickly unzipped it and instead of her Canadian bill and some coins, she took out a 20 American bill and some ones.

_For a creepy voodoo man, he ain't so bad_, she thought smiling as she put away her money and decided to look for a place to eat.

*10 minutes later*

She stopped in front of the grand looking restaurant, awestruck.

She hadn't seen a restaurant like that even back in 2015. It was tall, beautiful and the words "Tiana's Place" were at the top.

_It must be so beautiful, all lit up at night_, she thought.

She decided to go in out of curiosity.

The place was magnificent, with a huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the restaurant and balconies on either side.

If she knew how to whistle, she would have. The place was beautiful, with tall green plants and a green marshy theme going on with the tapestries and table clothes.

"Mademoiselle, Would you like a table?" she turned around to see a man in a suit with a name tag that read Francis.

"Uh no thank you, _Francis_, but I was just looking," she said politely.

"I insist! Come, come, take a seat," he said, ushering her to a table.

He handed her a menu and hurried off to usher in other people.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. She looked up at the stage that was at the front.

"Firefly Five plus Lou playing tonight!" read a large paper on a stand.

_This place must have great business if they have bands coming to play_, she thought as she started to browse the menu.

The menu had a brunch section which surprised Mia who didn't expect such a fancy restaurant to do much except for dinners.

"Hi!" said a deep male voice excitedly.

She looked up to see a giant crocodile standing in front of her, smiling huge as it waved its hand in greeting.

"Oh dear god," she said, and promptly passed out.

*5 minutes later*

"Faldi faldoza," said a male voice worriedly.

"I think she's waking up!"

"Back up guys, give her some space!"

"Ugh…" she groaned as she opened her eyes, everything blurry.

"Where…?" and she realized that she was at Tiana's Palace, the fancy restaurant she had stopped at to take a look at but ended up sitting at a table.

"I think I hurt my head," she said dazedly. She looked up to see the same crocodile that she had seen before looking at her with a concerned expression. She gasped and started to crawl back as far as she could.

"Keep that crocodile away from me," she said wide eyed and terrified as she tried to get up by pulling herself up with a chair only to fall back down.

"It's okay, Louis wouldn't hurt anyone!" said the woman, reaching out her hand to help Mia up.

"And I'm not a crocodile, I'm a gator," said the croc—alligator, twirling a trumpet in his hand.

Mia pulled herself up and looked at the girl who had helped her up. Her name tag read Tiana, and she could only assume that she was the owner of the restaurant. A bit of a surprise, seeing as a black person in the 1920's would be looked upon as socially inferior than a white person.

"You have a very beautiful restaurant," said Mia, and Tiana laughed.

"I've been told," she said with a wink. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine it's just that… your… talking alligator…" she trailed off, staring at Louis who embarrassedly waggled his clawed fingers at her.

She blinked quickly and shook her head. "How…?" she asked, afraid that if she said anymore her voice would go 9 octaves higher from shock.

The man that was standing near Tiana laughed.

"It's a long story uh… what is your name?"

"Mia Winters," she said, sticking out her hand.

"I am Naveen, Prince of Maldonia," he said shaking her hand and flashing her a toothy grin.

"Prince?" she said in surprise.

"Like he said. Long story," said Tiana, chuckling. "But we'd be glad to tell it to ya."

"Oh, are you sure you aren't busy, what with owning such a big restaurant?" Mia said uncomfortably. She didn't like keeping people from important things.

"Oh no, there's hardly anyone coming at this time of day. And whoever does come in, my staff can take care of them," said Tiana, steering her, Naveen and Louis to a table.

"I like to call everything that happened the story of The Princess and the Frog," said Tiana, smiling at Mia's mystified expression.

"Hey! Hold on here! Since when did you get the title 'princess' and I get stuck with 'frog'?" complained Naveen, earning him a playful slap on the shoulder from Tiana.

"Because you thought I was a princess and you _were_ a frog," she teased.

"Err?" said Mia, completely puzzled.

"Oh sorry, darling," said Tiana, realizing that her guest was completely clueless.

Tiana and Naveen started to unravel the story full of magic, complications and love to Mia, who felt like she was in kindergarten again, fascinated by the stories that her teacher read aloud to the class.

In the middle of the story, Mia's stomach started to churn. There was something very familiar about the Shadowman they were talking about.

"What's the Shadowman's real name?" she asked politely.

"Dr. Facilier," said Tiana, her eyes full of revulsion.

"F—Facilier?" Mia breathed, but they didn't seem to hear her and continued on.

She listened to the story, pretending to be mildly interested when her heart was pounding wildly as she took in everything.

"And now he's back," said Tiana stonily.

"How?" Mia asked, her head spinning.

"He made a deal with his 'friends on the other side' to take Lawrence instead of him. But that's only what he told me. Someone like him would never tell the whole story," said Tiana, waving at a waiter to bring over a plate.

"I would never make a lie up like that Mia," said Tiana, noticing Mia's blank expression.

"Oh no," she said, snapping back to herself, "I was just—trying to absorb it all. I know you wouldn't lie about that. And Louis is proof enough," she laughed uneasily at the alligator who beamed at her.

Tiana took the plate from the waiter and put it in front of Mia. It was some sort of sweet bun with syrup drizzled over it and coated with powdered sugar.

"Oh thank you, how much would that be?" asked Mia as she stuffed her hand into her jean pockets, but Tiana pulled her hand away gently.

"Oh no, it's okay. You don't need to pay," she said, and Mia looked up at her, surprised. She had expected an owner of such a big restaurant to be uptight and slightly callous, not at all like the laidback kind woman that was sitting in front of her.

_She's pretty much my age_, she realized.

"Go on, take one," said Tiana, and Mia took a tentative bite.

It was so good, she couldn't resist but eating the rest of the sweet pastry, and then some.

Naveen chuckled. "Tiana's beignets are hard to resist, just like her," he said, pinching her cheek.

"Oh Naveen!" she said, slapping him away, giggling as she hugged her.

As Mia polished another beignet she couldn't help but smile at the couple.

"They looked so sweet together, don't they?" asked Louis happily who had been sitting beside her the whole time silently. Mia jumped a little before smiling at the friendly gator in agreement.

It wasn't so hard to believe everything Tiana had told her because Facilier had been proof enough that voodoo and magic was real.

"Well, thank you kindly for the beignets and for telling me your story. I'll certainly make sure I keep away him," she said smiling.

_Keep away from him, eh?_ She asked herself dryly.

"Oh Mia, wouldn't you like to do something about that dried blood on your head?" asked Tiana worriedly.

Mia's hand jumped to the wound. She had completely forgotten about it.

"Uh, no thank you, I'll clean it up myself," she said, but Tiana dragged her into the kitchen and pointed to the huge sink and soap bar.

She sighed and quickly cleaned it out. She watched the pinkish red bubbles flow down the drain of the sink as she ruffled dry her hair with a towel that Tiana had brought from the back of the kitchen.

"Thank you so much for everything," said Mia as Tiana came back from helping a chef with his onion soup.

"Don't mention it. How'd that happen?" she asked her gaze fixed on the bump on Mia's head.

"Oh, I tripped over my feet and fell head first into a pile of rocks," she said with an embarrassed smile, half expecting lightning bolts to strike her down.

"That must've hurt a lot," said Tiana, wincing at the thought.

Mia put the towel to dry on the edge of a counter and all of a sudden they heard a crash.

_It isn't Facilier, it isn't Facilier, it isn't Facilier_, she repeated desperately as she and Tiana rushed out to see what had happened.

They stared. Louis had somehow gotten his head stuck in a drum on the stage and Naveen was trying unsuccessfully to pull it off his head.

Tiana started to laugh, and even Mia managed a nervous chuckle, relieved that it wasn't the witch doctor.

_You're just being paranoid_, she told herself.

"Get me outta here!" Louis wailed, flailing his arms and tail frantically.

"Do not worry! And stop moving so much, it is difficult to take it off!" said Naveen, grunting as he tugged on the drum.

After a few pulls he managed to get the drum off of Louis's head and they both fell to the floor.

Tiana rolled her eyes and smiled at her husband who was rubbing his head.

"Does this kind of stuff happen often?" asked Mia, stifling a laugh at Louis's dazed expression.

"Life has been quite strange since Facilier turned Naveen into a frog," said Tiana, smiling.

"Well, it was real nice meeting you," said Mia shyly as she stuck out her hand.

Tiana instead gave her a warm hug. Mia was surprised, but hugged her back.

"Where do you live?" asked Tiana.

"Where do I… live?" Mia repeated, unsure of what to say.

_I live in Toronto in my own apartment with my dog Dakota. I'm from the year 2015 and I have no way of getting back_, she wanted to blurt out.

The words that went past her lips however, were very different.

"I'm from Virginia, but I'm living with my Aunt Linda in the Quarter for a few weeks," she said quietly.

She felt bad for lying to her. Even though she had told Mia everything about her and Naveen, time travel seemed a tad unbelievable, and she knew that Tiana must be a very open minded person after all that had happened.

_I'll tell her the next time we meet_, she promised herself.

"I really should get going, my aunt will be worried sick," she said, not wanting to leave the restaurant. She was beginning to think that she'd never find out where her machine was.

"Oh really? It's only 5 in the afternoon. I guess since you're new around here she wants to make sure you're safe and sound," said Tiana, hugging her once again.

"Bye Mia!" said Louis, bounding off the stage and giving her a bone crushing hug. She chuckled and hugged him back.

"Uh, Abinaza!" said Naveen, who was still laying on the stage, clearly out of it.

"I'll see you soon hopefully!" she said before she left the building.

The sense of security that she had gotten in the restaurant vanished.

"Better start looking around again," she muttered as she started up her hunt for the time machine.

(Shadow POV)

**Where is that machine of hers? **He said, scratching his head.

Facilier had said it would be easy to find…

He flew around in search for the metal cylindrical dome topped thing that Facilier had shown through a sloppy drawing until he saw a girl walking into an alley.

A girl with short black hair and a blue dress.

He grinned.

(Mia POV)

Mia sighed as she walked into the umpteenth alley since she had left Tiana's Place.

She was tired and she could see the sun beginning to touch the horizon.

She didn't have much time before it was dark, and she would have to sleep in an alley.

Facilier was not an option.

Her gait became that of a sulky child, her arms moving about as if she had lost control over them as she stomped to the end of the alley.

"It isn't here, obviously it wouldn't—ow!" she said, her hands flying up to her nose as she walked into…well, nothing.

She backed away, staring at what appeared to be thin air.

She slowly lifted her hand and put it in front of her, but instead of her hand going through the air normally; it came into contact with a cold metal surface.

"Yes," she whispered, almost unable to believe that she had finally found it.

She bent down to flick the switch.

After a bit of flickering, the time machine was standing in front of her.

She smiled.

It was just one step closer to home.

She pulled on the latch and stepped inside.

Everything was as she had left it. Clothes and shoes were on the floor and the box was on her chair, overturned.

She quickly opened up a few of the drawers under the control panel.

There were granola bars, bottles of water, a blanket and a first aid kit.

"James, did I tell you how much I love you?" she said wonderingly, shocked and touched at the gesture.

He had always treated her like a sister, making sure she was alright. He was always there for her.

_If I get back, I swear he's the first one I'll be giving a hug_, she thought as closed the drawers.

She was putting her clothes that she had been carrying around all day in a drawer when she heard a thud.

All of a sudden the machine rocked violently and Mia was thrown the floor.

She blew her hair out of her eyes, exasperated.

She pulled the Swiss Army knife out of her sock, got to her feet and went outside.

"Who's there?" she asked, her fingers tensely gripping the small blade.

She heard a ghostly laugh as something dark whizzed past her.

"Oh God."

He cackled again as he came around from behind the machine.

"Did your master send you to spy on me?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

The shadow shook his head, giving her a huge smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Then why are you here?"

He suddenly slammed the door of the time machine shut, standing in front of it.

She glared at the silhouette as it leered at her.

It started to come towards her, and she instinctively brought up the knife.

The shadow just stared, and started to laugh hysterically.

Her cheeks colored as she sheathed the knife and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Fine, I can't hurt you with a knife, but I can hurt you in other ways," she said, smirking.

The shadow cocked its head to the side quizzically.

"Don't believe me?" she asked, feeling grateful that the sun was setting. Her shadow was on the wall of the machine. Right next to Facilier's shadow.

He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting for her to try to hurt him.

She quickly and carefully kneed the air, causing her shadow to knee his groin.

Facilier's shadow doubled over in pain, making her smile in satisfaction.

"Believe me now?" she asked.

Facilier's shadow straightened up and started walking towards hers with a limp.

Mia backed away, but found that she had no way of protecting her own shadow.

"Oh darn," She said, slightly worried as she backed up against a brick wall, her shadow mimicking her action.

Facilier's shadow grinned at Mia's as he put his hands on either side of her shadow's head.

Mia tried to move, but she felt two invisible forces on either side of her.

"What?!" she said, horrified.

Everything that Facilier's shadow did to hers, she felt.

Facilier's shadow started to lean in towards hers with an oily smile.

She quickly slid down the wall, covering her face with her hands before he could touch her.

Or rather, her shadow.

_Evil creepy shadow, just like its master_, she thought irritably.

Instead of bothering her further, he simply laughed and flew over to the machine.

She jumped to her feet, tensing.

"Why are you so interested in my machine?" she asked frowning, knowing that Facilier already knew about her machine and his shadow probably knew as well.

He slithered underneath the machine and flicked the switch to make it invisible.

She realized what he was going to do.

"Oh come _on_!" she yelled, infuriated.

She tried to grab onto the machine before the shadow could push it up, but she could have missed it by a millimeter or a foot because she couldn't see it.

She had a whole list of curses that she would have liked to throw at the shadow, but she would be wasting her breath that she needed to run after the bloody perverted little—ahem. The shadow.

She could hear his maniacal laugh as her feet pounded the pavement, running as hard as she could.

He started to swerve right and left forcing Mia to dart here and there, attracting a few strange looks from people.

_You bastard, I swear if I could, I'd kill you_, she thought, angry tears falling from her eyes.

Her anger, inconveniently, was hardwired to her tear ducts.

Thankfully her fury gave her the power to nearly fly down the streets after the shadow.

He suddenly made a sharp turn into an alley, causing Mia to skid and fall, grazing her palms.

She scrambled to her feet and ran into the alley where the shadow was, grinning widely.

She was breathing hard, tears streaming down her face, fists clenched and a livid expression on her face that made even the shadow look nervous.

"Give. That. Back."

That machine was all she had left. If he wanted to take it, he would have to go through her.

The shadow floated there motionless before the rotting purple door on the side opened up and it rushed in with her invisible machine on its shoulders.

She calmly walked up to the door that had closed of its own accord.

_Entering crazy psycho chick mode_, she thought wryly.

She backed up and then ran at the door, jumping in the air as she kicked it open.

She stumbled back, nearly falling as the door flew open, just barely staying on its hinges.

"Why doesn't the shadow's shamelessly low master come and show his face?" she asked as she walked in.

(Facilier POV)

He could sense Shadow coming back. He waved his cane at the door, letting in a tired Shadow.

**The girl is furious**, he said nervously as he set the time machine down on the floor, closing the door and putting a chair in front of it.

Facilier scoffed. "You're _scared_?"

**She's intimidating when she's angry**, said Shadow defensively.

The door flew open, the chair getting knocked out of sight.

Facilier raised an eyebrow at the person who stumbled in.

Tears streaked her calm and composed face, her gray eyes hard.

"Why doesn't the shadow's shamelessly low master come and show his face?" she asked, her voice as steely as her eyes.

"Ah, _cherie_, what a surprise. What brings you here?" said Facilier, chuckling as he stepped out from the darkness.

"Where is it?" she said bluntly.

He laughed. She wasn't one to beat around the bush.

Shadow hovered in a corner, hoping the girl wouldn't notice.

"Your shadow made me run after him for at least 10 minutes," she said coldly, staring the silhouette down.

Shadow leered at her, knowing that she couldn't hurt him.

She closed her eyes and looked as if she were in pain.

_Poor defenseless little thing_, he thought, smirking.

(Mia POV)

She felt extremely aware of the Swiss Army knife in her dress pocket.

_**There really is nothing else you can do**_, the voice in her head told her.

She whipped out the knife and turned to Facilier.

Her heart stuttered.

He had a little voodoo doll of her in his hand. In the other he held a purple topped needle dangerously close to the doll's heart.

His shadow started to laugh, but somehow it didn't seem so infuriating anymore.

"It's funny how some nightmares come true, eh Mia?" said Facilier, chuckling.

_Oh crap._

(End of chapter)

**Okay, okay, before you abandon my story for this inadequate chapter, hear me out. This chapter is mainly a filler for what's going to come in chapter 6. (:**

**So don't leave me please! D:**

**I was trying to draw Mia the other day in science, and that was just an epic fail. XD**

**ANYHOO, let's ignore that.**

**I am a big dreamer like Tiana and I hope to get tons of reviews for this story, and I know that a chapter like this isn't going to help that dream, but it was kind of necessary for the next chapter :)**

**Review, review, and review! **


	6. To Scream Bloody Murder

**Disclaimer: "HA! I drew this picture of Facilier, and I wrote Owned By: Marium, so I own Facilier!"**

"**That doesn't count. And your drawing looks like a duck."**

"**...That's harsh."**

(Start of Chapter)

"Bastard," she muttered as she threw the knife to the floor, wishing she could wipe the satisfied smirk off his face.

She stared at the doll in his hand. The needle was mere millimetres away from piercing her red fabric heart.

"So, you gonna kill me or what?" she asked flippantly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you value your life?"

"You tell me."

He chuckled as he pocketed the Mia doll and the needle vanished with a flick of his wrist.

_I'm powerless. I'm powerless god damn it..._

She was known as Miss Independent by everyone who knew her. She did everything herself, didn't take crap from anyone, and would always be able to get back on her own two feet if she got knocked over.

But this, this was like getting knocked over and then having a gun pointed at you.

Or to be more precise, a needle directed at your heart.

The feeling of not being in control, of not knowing what to do was eating at her, and by the smug look on Facilier's face, she knew that he knew it too.

"Where is it?" she asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of her tone.

"Where is what?" he asked, smirking when she closed her eyes, trying to keep from flying at him in a rage.

"My time machine, _Dr. Facilier_," she said through clenched teeth.

"What time machine?"

_**Calm down, he's just trying to piss you off.**_

_Well it's working!_

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," he said, wickedly amused as he leaned back against the wall.

"Very funny."

"Glad you find me amusing _cherie_."

She rolled her eyes.

Facilier started to chuckle.

"What..?" she said, feeling that his chuckle wasn't directed at their little conversation.

Shadow apparently had been hovering over her head quietly, because he popped up in front of her face upside down with that creepily wide grin of his.

Startled, she stumbled back, crashing into something hard and fell to the floor.

"Oww..." she groaned, and looked back to see what she had collided into.

Nothing. She quickly groped the air where the switch would be on her time machine and sure enough, it was there. She flicked it on and leaped to her feet, impatiently waiting for the machine to become visible.

As soon as she could see it she punched the numbers on the pad right next to the door lightening quick, sighing in relief when it beeped.

She turned around to see Facilier staring at her, his eyebrows raised. Shadow was sporting a bewildered look as well.

"I locked it. You can't get in. If you tried to pry it open everything would shut down and not work unless you had the code," she said, rubbing her aching back as she glared at Shadow who paid no mind to the miffed look.

"Looks like I have no way of opening your time machine," said Facilier mockingly, putting his hands up in defeat.

Her brow furrowed.

_He can't...get...in...can he?_ She asked herself uncertainly, but shook her head knowing that all systems would shut down if he tried to forcefully open it.

Facilier rolled his eyes and with a wave of his cane the supposedly locked door swung open silently.

She gaped.

"You seem to underestimate the power of my magic Mademoiselle," he said chuckling.

_Thank you for reminding me_, she thought irritably.

"You're welcome."

"That is going to drive me insane. Can't you just wait for me to speak, like a _normal_ person?"

"I'm as far from _normal_ anyone can get Mademoiselle," he said, smirking.

She suppressed a growl as she stared him down.

"So...what now?"

"I think you know 'what's now' very well Mia."

"I'm not leaving here tonight, am I?" she asked, although she knew the answer quite well.

He grinned broadly.

"Is this situation wounding your pride Mia?" he asked, his violet eyes twinkling with malice.

She grimaced.

She was in no position to strike a bargain now that everything she possessed was in Facilier's hands.

She eyed the knife that she had thrown to the floor.

_**Don't do it, you'll kill yourself.**_

_Oh come on, now how am I supposed to do that?_

_I__**f you take one step towards that thing he ain't gonna hesitate to take out that doll and snuff out your life.**_

_...true._

Mia looked back up at Facilier. His eyes betrayed no emotion.

She slowly bent down, her hands reaching for the shoe laces on her Converse, not looking away from him.

She fumbled with the shoe lace, trying to inconspicuously see if she could lunge for the knife and remain unscathed.

If she didn't do it fast, she knew she wouldn't do it at all.

_I'm going to wind up dead_, she thought dashing for the knife.

"Oof!" the wind was knocked out of her as two strong arms wrapped around her waist and she fell to the ground with a thud. She vainly tried to grab onto the blade but he pinned her arm to her back.

Desperately she swiped her other hand at the knife, feeling euphoric at the cold metal in her palm.

She turned around, breathing hard as she stared up at the witch doctor whose legs were on either side of her.

He had the Mia doll in his hand, and the needle was touching the delicate threads of her fabric heart.

Her own heart pounded wildly, as if it were trying to complete the number of beats in a lifetime before he killed her.

(Facilier POV)

The girl was breathing hard, and he could see turmoil in her stormy gray eyes as she held the blade tightly.

She brought the little knife up trying to look threatening, but when he gently pried the weapon away from her slender fingers, he couldn't help but chuckle at the helplessness and fright that filled her eyes.

_They really are the windows to the soul_, he mused.

Ever since he had met her, every emotion that she had felt had been painfully obvious no matter how good her poker face was.

"What do you want?" she whispered, making him smirk.

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" he asked his voice low.

That seemed to light a spark in her.

She struggled to get face to face with him, but given their position she couldn't get up more than a foot.

She blew her short hair out of her eyes irritably.

"You wanted something from the start," she said venomously.

"Mighty clever, aren't we?" he said with a sinister chuckle, leaning closer towards her but to his surprise she didn't move back.

"You won't be getting anything from me," she said as determinedly as she could, but he could hear the wavering in her voice.

"And what makes you think that I don't already have everything I need?" he asked, frowning when she gave him a crooked smile.

"Because you would have disposed of me by now if you didn't need me," she said, but her smirk suddenly vanished when he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her close.

(Mia POV)

"Because you would have disposed of me by now if you didn't need me," she said, but her satisfied smile slipped when he grabbed her hair and pulled her close, their faces mere millimetres away from each others.

Her breath hitched as his purple eyes bored into hers.

"You still don't seem to know who you're messing with Mia," he whispered, his warm breath tickling her nose.

_He's so damn close_, she thought, unable to string words into a sentence let alone give a biting remark.

His lips curled into a menacing smile when she didn't answer.

She scowled at him as he gracefully rose to his feet.

He pulled his cane out of nowhere and offered it to her.

She stared at him coldly before she pulled herself up, brushing her hands on the front of the dress.

_I'm not that helpless_, she told him silently, earning her a quiet laugh from the witch doctor.

He waved his cane at the chest of drawers on the side and the knob turned 3 times before it sunk into the ground, revealing the room that Mia was oh too familiar with.

She made a face as she looked back at her machine.

"The room is bigger," he said, enjoying how she looked back and forth from the room to the machine, undecided and uncomfortable.

She glared at him, walked into the machine, came out with a box of things and stalked into the room.

She turned the knob on the night table without looking back, not wanting to see the smug look on his face.

She sighed as she heard the thud that told her the chest had closed the doorway.

"Just like last time, only now I know where my time machine is," she said irritably as she threw the box to the floor and kicked it to the side.

She turned around and stopped.

There was a wooden box in a corner with another white cotton night gown and a pale yellow dress.

She flopped onto the bed and screamed into the pillow.

_What does he want from me? Can I get out of here with the machine and not get caught? Will I be able to tell Tiana what's happened? Would she be able to help me?_

Questions that she wished she knew the answers to raced through her head as she sighed and peeled off the dress she was wearing and started to pull on the night gown.

She suddenly had the eerie feeling she wasn't alone.

She whipped around to see Facilier's shadow grinning at her.

She screamed bloody murder.

(End of Chapter)

**Poor Mia.**

**Shadow is a Peeping Tom! *gasps***

**Sorry this is so short folks, but I have a lot on my plate these days, but trust me, there is much more to come. (:**

**I've been getting tons of alerts but not so many reviews. :P**

**Opinions on what you think should or will happen next are greatly appreciated and fun to read. Especially because I know what's going to happen and you don't. ;)**

**Review, review and review! **


	7. Gold Stars And Drunken Words

**Disclaimer: **_**I am a sad little ninth grader who is sitting in jail because I said I owned Facilier. But I shall! Once I get out of here, I shall own what's rightfully mine! MUAHAHAHHA!**_

**Disney: We don't think so.**

_**Meep! How can you read my thoughts?**_

**Disney: We're just cool like that.**

(Start of Chapter)

"Get the hell out of here," she hissed, quickly covering herself with the dress.

Shadow merely grinned, and Mia glowered.

"Just watch what I do to you," she said venomously.

Shadow laughed, gave her a little bow and tip of the hat before slipping out.

"That shadow is gonna get it," seethed Mia as she stuffed the dress over her head and hastily pulled it down.

_**That was embarrassing.**_

_I didn't need you to tell me that_, thought Mia, heat emanating from her cheeks as she whirled the knob on the night table and went out into the emporium.

She scoured the room for the damned silhouette when Facilier came up behind her.

"Anything wrong _cherie_?" he asked, amused.

"Your shadow was watching me change my clothes!" she said angrily.

Facilier burst out laughing.

Mia glowered at the voodoo man. "That—that is just not to be done," she said (_I sound like a child_, she thought irritably), stomping her foot.

That just made him chuckle more.

She resisted the childish urge to stick out her tongue.

Someone tapped her on the back of her head. She whirled around to see Shadow smiling at her mischievously.

"You're gonna get it," she hissed, but before she could hurt the silhouette, Facilier suddenly said, "What's that red light flashing on your machine?"

She whipped around in alarm only to see that he had fooled her.

She turned back to him to see Shadow making faces at her.

She felt like the whole world was behind that face, mocking her helplessness, her inability to control what happened around her.

(Facilier POV)

Her resolve crumbled before his eyes.

_The girl is too used to of being independent_, he thought with a smirk.

"Gold star for you," she said coolly before walking into the room and closing the passageway without a look back.

**She's fun to annoy**, said Shadow with glee.

"She's got a strong spirit. It'll be entertaining to watch it fall apart," he said with a chuckle.

(Mia POV)

Mia sat on the bed with a sigh.

_I've been sighing more in the last 2 days than I have in a month_, she thought as she hugged her knees, staring at the little cracks in the wall.

_When had I become so helpless? Someone that needed to be... saved?_

She frowned at the word. 'Saved'? She was no damsel in distress.

She simply needed to fix the machine before Facilier carried out his plan, and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to even touch it with Facilier around and she needed to somehow get to Tiana again without him finding out which would be futile because he could read her mind...

"Hopeless. Utterly hopeless," she muttered.

So you've met Tiana, hmm?

Mia froze.

"I don't think that was my conscience talking..." she said slowly, her hands going to her head.

It wasn't.

"What the hell are you doing in my head?" asked Mia as she jumped off the bed, panicked.

He chuckled.

"This—this is a _total_, _invasion_, of privacy," she seethed.

_How am I—_ she stopped herself from continuing the thought, knowing that he could hear.

_Damn it, I can't— _she stopped again, making a face at Facilier's chuckle echoing in her head.

_I need to tell T— _

Go on, said Facilier, wickedly amused.

_A, B, C, D, E, F, oh God this isn't working_! she thought helplessly.

Facilier laughed at her pitiful attempt to keep her thoughts hidden.

Try as you may _cherie_, it isn't going to work, he said smugly.

Mia groaned and threw herself on the bed.

_Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are_, she sang bleakly.

You have a terrible singing voice.

Mia's lips curled up in a crooked smile.

_I may just use that to my advantage_, she thought, allowing herself a little chuckle.

Meaning? said Facilier, his tone darkening.

_This is the song that never ends yes it goes on and on my friend, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it just because... _she sang, going as off key as she possible could.

You really think—

_This is the song that never ends yes it goes on and on my friend, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it just because...this is the song that never ends—_

If you sing another—

_I__t never ends Facilier, yes it goes on and on my friend, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it just because! _Mia practically screeched, her grin broadening at the silence in her head.

You're underestimating me again Mia, he said, and Mia could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

_What does he—I mean twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, _Mia thought quickly.

_**Wrong song.**_

_I'm _quite _aware.__**  
**_  
You can't keep this up for long Mademoiselle, might as well give up, he said, chuckling.

_This is the song that never ends yes it goes on and on my friend, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it just __because__...!_

Give it up girl, it's not going to work, he snarled.

_Oh but it is Facilier_, thought Mia with a smirk as she continued the endless song, but Facilier didn't say a word.

Mia frowned, stopping.

_**Is he gone?**_

_Can't tell._

_**You know he's probably listening.**_

_At this point, I don't think I care_, thought Mia with a yawn.

_**So you don't care if he finds out that you—**_

_Don't. Say. Another. Word._

_**Sorry? Thought you didn't care...**_

_For God's sake, shut up._

Mia sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

_Tomorrow is going to be hell of a long day..._ she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

(Facilier POV)

Shadow couldn't help but laugh at his master's annoyance as he glared at the sleeping form in the crystal ball.

"She _still_ doesn't know who she's messing with, does she?" he said, a smirk playing on his lips as she started to toss and turn.

What are you doing? asked Shadow, confused.

"Tampering with her seemingly normal dream," he said with a satisfied smile, waving his hand at the crystal ball in front of him which showed a very uncomfortable Mia being pushed towards a row of seats.

(Dream)

I don't want to go!" said Mia, but James pushed her into the seat.

"You know how much I hate roller coasters James," she said, looking back at the people that were buzzing excitedly about the new attraction.

James laughed as he sat in his seat beside her. "This rollercoaster has absolutely no loop-de-loops; it's just hairpin turns and steep dives. You'll love it."

An employee came over and put the restraint over their heads.

"I don't know why I agreed to this," said Mia nervously, tugging on the restraint.

"You aren't going to fly out Mia, this ride has been tested tons of times," said James, rolling his eyes at her apprehension.

"Yeah, but why did we have to sit right at the front?" she asked, her voice going unnaturally high.

"Mia, look at me," he said, and she forced herself to look into his chocolate brown eyes.

"You'll be fine. I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and this is a perfectly safe ride," he said gently.

She blew the hair out of her eyes as she put her head back against the headrest.

"You're right, I'm just being silly," she said as she twisted her head to see the whole track.

_Maybe this won't be too bad_, she thought as the speakers started to crackle.

"Are you guys ready to ride 'The Scream'?" asked an employee, her question met by thrilled shrieks and whoops.

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Mia rolling her eyes.

"Don't be such a spoilsport," said James with a laugh as they started to get pulled up by gears, the sound of the metal meshing and grinding making Mia's stomach knot up.

She tried to close her eyes but they were wide open as she breathed heavily, her hands melded around the metal bars of the restraint.

**Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum**

"James... is that sound part of this ride?" asked Mia, confused.

"No clue," said James, frowning.

The gears shuddered to a halt a few feet before they reached the peak.

"What happened?" she said, craning her neck to see if there were any employees coming up the stairs.

She looked up at the sky and frowned. It was starting to turn a dark green.

"Today was supposed to be sunny..." said James, and Mia felt horrified at the uneasiness that had crept into his voice. James was the one out of the two that was always calm. If he wasn't relaxed, Mia sure as hell wasn't relaxed.

Everyone started to whisper, apprehension and confusion in the air.

**Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum**

"Why is that sound getting lou—Oh lord," she breathed as the ride lurched forward.

**Are you ready? **

**Are you, readyyyy?**

The chorus of menacing voices sent chills down Mia's spine.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that none of this is part of the ride," said Mia, her heart pounding.

A greenish mist was rising up from the bottom of the ride.

By now, people a few people were screaming and trying to get out of their seats to no avail.

_I'm dreaming_, she thought horrified as she struggled against the restraint.

**Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum**

**Are you ready?** James and Mia exchanged worried looks.

They reached the peak and stopped. Everyone held their breaths.

Mia looked down and stifled her gasp.

There was a mask with gigantic horns on either side of its head, its mouth wide open as if it was going to swallow the row of seats they were on.

"Oh God," squeaked Mia.

_**Wake up! Wake up damn it, you're dreaming!**_ Her conscience yelled at her, but trying to waking up was like struggling against the restraints: tiring and futile.

Suddenly the voodoo dolls that she had seen in Facilier's emporium jumped up on the seats, banging their little drums with their needles as they smiled cruelly at the terrified occupants of the seats.

"How..?" she said, staring wide eyed at the voodoo doll that smiled malevolently at Mia and James.

They started to fall. As they went over the peak everyone started to scream. Not from exhilaration or excitement, but out of pure fear that they might not get out alive.

Mia's scream ripped from her throat as they descended at a breakneck speed down the steep path, hurtling towards the mouth of the mask.

The last thing she heard before everything turned black was the chorus of voices asking her if she was ready.

(Mia POV)

Mia jolted up screaming.

She took in long shaky breaths, trying to regain control of herself.

"Dolls, masks, roller coaster," she rambled mindlessly.

Why was she so disconcerted? It was only a dream. A scary one, but a dream nonetheless.

"Dolls...masks..." she repeated, blinking slowly, the words starting to register in her mind.

(Facilier POV)

Facilier laughed at the bemused girl as she began to realize the connections between her dream and the real world.

"Facilier?" she said to herself, brow furrowed. She whirled the night table's knob and stumbled out of the room.

"Facilier?" she repeated, squinting as she saw the witch doctor at his table with a crystal ball in front of him.

"Yes _cherie_?" he asked.

Mia frowned. "You sound strangely happy about something," she said.

"You're just drowsy. What happened?" he asked, his lips curling in a wicked smile.

"Bad dream," she said as she rubbed her head, frowning at the masks on the wall.

**She's completely clueless**, said Shadow gleefully and Facilier chuckled quietly.

_I really, really need to get away from this_, she thought as she looked at Facilier with a strange expression.

"Do you have any liquor?" she asked suddenly.

_So that's what she meant by 'getting away'_, he thought as he let out a laugh.

"Drinking your worries away, Mademoiselle?" he asked, smirking when she glared at him.

"I hardly ever drink. Do you have any?" she asked.

"There's a skull on that shelf," he said, pointing to the shelf where a particularly frightening voodoo doll lay. "Put your fingers into its eye sockets and part of the wall will go down. There's a cellar down the flight of stairs."

Mia made a face. "How many secret doors do you have?" she asked irritably.

He gave her a smug smile. Mia sighed and walked over to the shelf. She cringed at the eerie grin of the disfigured doll and pushed her fingers into the sockets of the skull.

_This had better not be a real skull_, she thought, shuddering.

Facilier didn't feel the need to tell her that it indeed was a real skull, and was over 100 years old.

(Mia POV)

Sure enough, part of the wall sank into the floor revealing a dark passageway. She quietly walked down the stairs, her hand trailing across the wall.

"I can't s—" she started, but before she could finish torches on either side of the little room lit up, revealing quite a few rows of wine lined against the walls.

"All this for yourself?" she asked, her voice reverberating against the stone walls of the cellar.

"Not really. I bring some out when I need a client to, say, _relax_," he said slyly.

She hesitated, her fingers curled around a bottle.

Getting drunk wouldn't bode well for her, seeing as she was with Facilier.

She wasn't exactly going to get drunk. Only a drink or two. Although that could lead to a lot more...

"Oh what the hell," she muttered, pulling the bottle out of its place and walking up the stairs quickly.

She pressed her fingers into the sockets again and the wall closed up.

Mia walked over to the table and threw herself into the chair.

"Want any?" she asked carelessly, waving the bottle at him and Facilier conjured two glasses, taking the bottle from her and pouring some for the both of them.

She took the glass from him and nearly downed all of it in an unladylike fashion, putting it down on the table as she stared into space.

(Facilier POV)

Facilier chuckled. The girl looked just like one of the many people who walked into a bar, trying to drink themselves into a stupor.

"Say, what's wrong with that contraption of yours that y'all—"

"The time machine you mean," she said, taking another sip as she stared at the wall.

"Alright, time machine. What's wrong with it?"

"Problems in section C-13 and D-27 of the main hard drives," she said in a monotone.

Facilier frowned. "That would mean...?"

She sighed as she looked at Facilier and said quietly, "It's too damaged to travel through time."

"Well, from what I gathered from your memories," he said, ignoring the grimace on her face as he reminded her that he had gone through every memory in her head, "Is that you have a pretty clear idea of how that thing works. Why don't you try fixing it?"

Shadow looked at Facilier, shocked.

**What are you doing?** He hissed.

Facilier shot him a glare and he stayed quiet.

Mia let out a mirthless laugh. "Fix it," she repeated, taking a swig of the glass that was almost empty, "I'd fix it if I could. I'd need quite a few tools which I'm sure are in the box that I put somewhere in there to fix anything that happens, but even then it would be very difficult."

_The girl is starting to spill_, he thought with a smirk. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't tell him anymore than she needed to. Now that she was slightly intoxicated her inhibitions about the witch doctor were starting to leave.

Mia looked at what was an almost empty glass and frowned. "You put more in," she said accusingly.

"Y'all said y'all were gonna drink only 2 glasses. This counts as the second glass, no?"

_He really does listen to every single thought, doesn't he?_ She asked herself as she rolled her eyes.

"Indeed I do _cherie_," said Facilier, and Mia merely sighed.

"Indeed you do Facilier," she muttered as she took finished nearly half the glass in one mouthful.

_She's completely forgotten about protecting her thoughts_, he thought as he searched back to her thoughts that she was trying to conceal. _Her friendship with Tiana might just be another advantage..._ he mused as she downed the rest of the glass.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you were a regular drinker," he said with a grin.

Mia giggled. "Do I finish it up that fast?" she asked, her words slightly slurred.

"Faster than most," said Facilier, clearly pleased that she wasn't herself.

**Give her a few more glasses**, said Shadow grinning psychotically at the drunk girl.

_Just one more will be fine_, he thought to Shadow.

"I'm going to tell you something," she said suddenly.

"Alright," said Facilier, his interest aroused.

"But, you can't tell Facilier," she said as she stared him down with a deadly serious expression.

Facilier couldn't help but laugh at the solemn Mia.

"I won't tell Facilier," he said with a chuckle.

"Good. I don't trust the man. But he's just so..." she said, her brow furrowed as she tried to think of a word to describe him.

"So...?" Facilier prompted.

"Charismatic," she said, surprised at herself for saying that.

Facilier cocked an eyebrow.

"It's like, you can completely tell he's not to be trusted," she said, waving her glass around and nearly spilling its contents, "Yet you just can't help but give into his charm," she said, staring right at Facilier who was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Ya know what I mean?" she asked, and Facilier let out a dark chuckle that would have made the sober Mia alarmed.

"I do now," he said amusedly, and Mia grinned.

By now, Shadow was clutching his sides as he shook on the floor with silent, barely contained laughter.

Facilier heard a voices whispering. He looked behind his back to see the masks looking menacingly at him.

His eyes widened. _What are y'all doin' here? She could see you!_ He thought in alarm.

"We're hungry," they hissed.

"Who's hungry?" asked Mia, confused.

"Shadow is," Facilier said distractedly, shooting the 'Friends' a desperate look.

"Oh really? I have granola bars in my time machine! I'll go get them," she said happily, getting to her feet and stumbling to the machine, paying no mind to Shadow who had stopped laughing and was staring at the 'Friends' in horror.

"You have a young soul right here, what's your excuse?" the biggest mask said, his painted mouth twisted in a scowl.

"I have a plan to use her, I'll be able to bring you a lot more souls with her if you just give me some time," Facilier pleaded.

They stared at him, disbelieving.

"I swear—just please don't let her see y'all!" he said desperately.

"If you disappoint us, we'll take the girl _and_ you," he said, and with that they turned back into lifeless ordinary masks.

Facilier's heart pounded.

_Way too close_, he thought looking over at the time machine. He stared in alarm as Mia stood there, leaning against the wall of the machine with a thoughtful expression on her face as she stared at him.

"I can explain—"

"Ya know," she said slowly as she crossed her arms, "You're pretty darn good looking."

Facilier laughed half out of relief and half because of the wonderment in her voice.

She walked towards him slowly with wobbly legs, the look of concentration on her face making him chuckle.

Once she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his long neck, staring into his eyes, speculating.

_Drunken words are sober thoughts_, he thought with a smirk as she brought her face closer to his.

Her lips were mere millimetres away from his when she whispered, "But your moustache is funny," and let out a stream of giggles as she let go of him and nearly fell to the floor, but Facilier swiftly caught her by the waist before she could hit the ground.

Facilier looked down at the giggling drunk woman and couldn't help but chuckle.

"You don't seem to hold your liquor well," he said as she got to her feet, holding him for support.

"I don't drink more than half a glass, or else I start to get a leeeetle tipsayyy," she said, laughing.

"I noticed. You should get to sleep. You're going to have a hell of a hangover in the morning," he said, leading her to her room seeing as she was too intoxicated to walk properly.

She fell onto her bed as her head started to throb.

"I think it's already started," she said, groaning. She looked up at him with a strange expression. "I have a feeling I wasn't supposed to tell you anything," she said, frowning when he chuckled.

"Good night Mia," he said, and with a wave of his cane the lamp turned off and he walked out of the room, smirking.

"She's gonna regret she touched that bottle," he said to Shadow who cackled at the girl who was already knocked out.

(Mia POV)

"Dear lord, my head," she groaned as she got up.

She stumbled out of the room where Facilier was looking through an old book, its pages yellow with age.

"Hey," she said, rubbing her head.

"Hello _cherie_," he said smirking, not looking up from the book.

_Why don't I remember anything from last night...?_ she thought, frowning as his smirk broadened.

_Grabbing a bottle...yes I did grab a bottle... of liquor?_ She thought, trying to put the little pieces of what she remembered together, but it was like trying to get the picture of a 1000 piece puzzle with only 30 pieces put together.

"Keep going..." said Facilier as he flipped through a few pages, and Mia glared at him.

_Liquor...I wanted to forget...holy crap did I have more than half a glass?_ She thought, horrified.

"Two in fact," he said. Mia glowered at the man who still wasn't looking up from his book.

_Okay, two. That would explain the loss of memory_, she thought, frowning. _But what_ happened?

"You had one hell of a night," he said with a devilish grin, finally looking up at the confused and now worried Mia.

"Meaning...?" she asked slowly. Facilier chuckled. Mia almost forgot how to breathe.

"I—I didn't," she said firmly, but the stutter gave her away.

"The sounds you made..." he said slyly and Mia's eyes turned as wide as saucers.

_No, no, no, no, no!_

"I didn't!" she screeched as she stared at Facilier who was enjoying the sight of her vehemently shaking her head, denying it all.

"I did not, do that, I am not stupid! No! No WAY!" she told him, breathing heavily as if she had run a marathon.

"You liked it last night, what's wrong now?" he asked innocently, that damned smirk of his killing her inside.

"I did not— I didn't," she breathed, tears starting to form in her gray eyes.

_Please, don't tell me I gave my virginity to a voodoo witch doctor_, she thought as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see his face.

_**At least it was an incredibly sexy voodoo doctor?**_

_Holy—where the HELL did that come from?_

_**You know he is.**_

_Don't even start with me_, she seethed opening her eyes to see Shadow grinning at her. She glared at the silhouette before turning to Facilier.

"I don't believe that," she breathed, her chest heaving as she stared at the voodoo man.

He laughed. "Alright, you win, I didn't take advantage of you," he said, holding his hands up in defeat.

"Thank God," she said, feeling relieved.

"But," he said, making her tense, "You did other things that would make you almost as embarrassed." he smirked at the worried look on her face.

"Like...?" she asked.

"Oh, you don't want to know," he said carelessly, flattening out a creased edge in the book he was holding.

"Of course I do damn it, tell me," she said through grit teeth.

"Y'all sure about that?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, exasperated.

"I might as well show you," he said, waving his hand at the crystal ball on the table which started to unravel the events of the night.

Mia groaned as she saw herself guzzling down the first glass.

_Real smooth_, she thought sarcastically.

Her eyes widened as she told a very amused Facilier that she was going to tell him something as long as he didn't tell...Facilier.

"What the hell was I thinking...?" she said, staring incredulously at the little ball.

"That's the thing _cherie_. You weren't," said Facilier with a wink.

"Oh dear God," she said as she saw herself rummaging through the drawers for a granola bar. For the _shadow_.

Mia made a face at Shadow who nudged her and went into a fit of silent laughter.

"What were you hiding?" she asked accusingly, and Facilier tensed.

"Nothin' at all darlin'," he said, and Mia let it go, staring at herself in horror as she told Facilier how good looking he was.

She slowly looked over at Facilier who was grinning from ear to ear as he leaned back in his chair, dangerously close to tipping over.

"I told y'all it wasn't something you'd wanna see," he said.

(Facilier POV)

He grinned at the girl as she stared in horror at her actions.

_I nearly kissed him..._ she thought, her hand touching her lips.

She looked over at Facilier again, turning red.

"Y'all seem to think I'm attractive, hmm?" he asked, grinning.

Mia stalked towards Facilier, glowering.

"I couldn't care le—" he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, their faces just as close as they had been when she had wrapped her arms around him.

(Mia POV)

Mia stared into his cold purple eyes, hardly breathing.

Her eyes trickled over his face and lingered at his lips.

Facilier smirked, noticing where she was looking at.

"Like what you see?" he whispered in her ear.

"I hate you," she whispered, the loathing evident in her voice.

Facilier chuckled as he pulled away from her.

"I'm sure you do _cherie_," he said with a grin.

Mia dug her nails into her palms, seething at the amused voodoo man before her.

"Ah, ah, ah, do you really want to do that again?" he asked, smirking in satisfaction as she made a face, remembering when he had healed the crescents she had gauged into her palms.

"I need..." she started, but trailed off.

_What's the point? It's not like he's going to let me go_, she thought as she blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

Then perhaps you should ask. Maybe he would.

Mia frowned at the witch doctor who was smiling at her.

_And why exactly would he do that?_ She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He knows you need to meet your little friend Tiana to do something about your predicament. He doesn't want to keep you from your business.

Mia's eyes went wide and then narrowed. "You read the thoughts I was hiding," she said, her tone accusatory.

"Now _cherie_, everything was right there unprotected, you can't blame me for takin' a peek," he said with a smirk.

"A 'peek' is not the word I'd use _Dr. Facilier_," she hissed. "Anyhow, I need to get to Tiana's. G'bye," she said as she turned on her heel and started to leave.

"One question Mademoiselle," said Facilier. Mia turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"Do I get another gold star?" he asked innocently, his purple eyes mocking her.

"Arghh!" she growled at him as she stalked out of the emporium and slammed the door on a laughing Facilier.

(End Of Chapter)

**I actually intended to make this much longer, but since I haven't updated for so long I decided to get to morning and end the chapter rather than doing another whole day. That'll be chapter 8. And hopefully Mia shall have the upper hand by the end of it. I'm working it out. (:**

**I might just have to bump this up a rating with the little dirty comment Facilier made. ;)**

**Anyhoo, thank you my lovelies for reviewing! But there are tons of people who have me on alert yet don't say a thing! *sniffles***

**I have exams and a provincial math test coming up (EQAO) so my next update might be at the end of June... hopefully not! That's just the latest it could go up to though.**

**Review, review and review! (: **


	8. Miss Miserable Wench

**Disclaimer: *Sitting at a bar, very drunk, with an also very drunk Lawrence*:**

"**A—and they told me, that if I tried to pull a stunt like that again—*hiccups*—they'd get a restraining order on me!"**

**Lawrence shakes his head sympathetically. "And I was so looking forward to marrying Miss Charlotte. She's so beautiful…"**

"**Life sucks." *takes swig of beer* "I'll have two more over here, for me and my pal Larry!" *grins widely***

…**yeah. As you can see, I obviously do not own Facilier. Or anyone else in TPATF.**

**But obviously, owning Facilier is the only thing that matters to me.**

***cackles***

(Start of Chapter)

Mia walked briskly in the direction of the restaurant, the color in her cheeks starting to fade.

"Stupid, evil, ugly," she muttered under her breath.

_**Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone. Ugly?**_

___As attractive as he may be, he's still an evil lying voodoo witch doctor who cares for nothing but himself and his own damned shadow._

**_True. But he's still quite good looking._**

___That doesn't matter._

**_You didn't exactly deny that he's good looking though._**

___I know I didn't._

**_I don't think there's much to deny seeing as you told him that to his face._**

___I'm not listening to you._

Her cheeks burned as she thought of her drunken mistake. Or mistakes, if she counted when she nearly kissed him.

"I cannot believe I did that," she muttered to herself as she turned a street.

(Facilier POV)

_She hasn't realized that she's still wearing the nightgown_, Facilier thought with a chuckle.

He smirked as Mia's slightly pink cheeks turned a few shades darker as she replayed the events of the night in her head.

**You enjoyed that a lot didn't you?** Shadow asked Facilier as he waved his hand at the crystal ball, making the image of Mia disappear.

"It was interesting to say the least," said Facilier, chuckling.

**That was a close call with the 'Friend's'**, said Shadow nervously, and the satisfied smile slipped from Facilier's face.

"Way too close," he said as he looked over at the menacing masks on the walls, as if expecting them to come alive any moment.

He shook his head, pushing the memory of being dragged to the 'other side' into the back of his mind.

"It ain't gonna happen again," he said quietly as he got up from his chair.

_God damn it, where did I take a wrong turn?_ Mia's exasperated voice entered his head_. Stupid sense of direction, stupid Facilier, and that damned gold star, argh! _

Facilier chuckled. "Temper, temper," he said mockingly. "Looks like I ain't the only one who gets angered easily 'round here."

(Mia POV)

She got to the restaurant half an hour later than she had originally planned.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as she walked towards the restaurant.

"Erm, Francis? Would you know where Tiana would be?" Mia asked the plump man who greeted her at the door.

"She'll be in the kitchen Mademoiselle," he replied, eyeing her strangely.

Mia muttered a quick thanks to him before making her way to the kitchen, attracting a few odd looks from people.

_Weird..._

Mia knocked timidly on the kitchen doors and nearly fell as a waiter with plates burst through them. She quickly slipped inside and started looking for Tiana amidst the hustle and bustle of the busy kitchen.

"Mia?" asked a voice in shock. Mia spun around to see Tiana staring at her in surprise.

"Tiana, I'm so sorry that I barged in like this, but err, I really need to talk to you about something," she said anxiously.

"Let's talk in here," she said, walking into a storage room full of ingredients and supplies for the kitchen with Mia following closely behind.

"I—"

"Before you start, not that it isn't lovely, but why are you wearing a nightgown out in public?" asked Tiana, bewildered.

Mia looked down in shock at the white cotton nightgown she still had on.

"So that's why people were staring," Mia muttered. "I kind of forgot to change. Long story. Anyway, I have a bit of an issue right now. You know how I told you about my Aunt Linda, and how I'm staying at her place for a few weeks?" Mia asked.

"Yes, what about it?" she asked, puzzled.

"I...I'll be staying with her for maybe more than a month," said Mia weakly.

**_I thought you were gonna tell her the truth?_**

_Not right now, I can't—_

She won't be able to help, you know.

"Oh my God, you're in my head, why are you in my head, you aren't supposed to be in my head, get out of my head," Mia said in a panic.

"What?" asked Tiana, thoroughly confused.

Facilier's dark chuckle echoed in her mind.

"Tiana, Facilier is in my head right now," said Mia, her voice going unnaturally high.

"Facilier? How..?" Tiana asked, concern and worry clouding her face.

"Tiana, I, erm, got lost when I was trying to get home to my aunt. It was really dark and I saw an alley, thought it was an abandoned building and went in, hoping I could stay there until morning and then go search for my aunt's house. It was his emporium," she said, cringing.

Tiana blinked rapidly.

"Look, the man is _in my head _and he's been invading my privacy. I need to get him out now," pleaded Mia.

She listened in her head for a smart aleck remark from the witch doctor but she heard nothing.

(Facilier POV)

"Shadow, for God's sake, give that back!" Facilier yelled at the shade that had stolen a gender swapping potion that he had been working on and was very close to breaking the vial.

Facilier lunged for the vial and Shadow flew away, cackling maniacally.

"No!" he yelled desperately as the vial fell to the floor. As soon as it made contact with the ground, a puff of red and purple smoke came up, covering Facilier.

He coughed as he waved the dust away irritably, hunting for a mirror he could look at himself in.  
He ran into his room to see his appearance in the cracked mirror.

His brea—chest had become much larger, making his vest tight.

Grimacing at the enlargement, he quickly touched his crotch to see if his, err, bits were there, and they were.

"Alright, so I'm half woman half man?" he growled.

He took his top hat off, sighing. He stared in horror as long black hair tumbled down to his waist.

"Shadow!"

(Mia POV)

"Mama Odie..." Tiana mused.

"Mama Whodie?"

"Mama Odie," said Tiana with a chuckle. "She might be able to help."

"Who is she exactly?" asked Mia hesitantly.

"She's the voodoo queen of the Bayou," she said, smiling when Mia paled.

"More voodoo?" she asked, the displeasure on her face obvious.

"It isn't the type of voodoo the Shadowman practices," said Tiana, and Mia relaxed slightly.

"Then I guess it's alright. You said something about a 'Bayou'?" Mia asked, her brow furrowing.

"The Bayou is a swamp near here. It isn't that hard to get to. I can give you directions if you want," she told her.

Before Mia could say anything, Louis bounded into the storage room, nearly knocking the onions from the shelf beside him.

"Naveen needs you in the kitchen Tiana," he told her, "And did you say something about needing to go to the Bayou?" he asked Mia.

"Yep, I need Mama Odie's help," she said, hoping he wouldn't ask what kind of help she needed.

"I know the Bayou like the back of my hand, I can take you there lickety split," he said brightly, flashing a toothy grin at her.

"It's settled then. You take Mia to Mama Odie. Be back soon, the band is playing tonight and they need you," she told Louis before quickly leaving the storage room to help Naveen.

"Are you sure you want to take me, I mean I can just get dire—"

"It's no problem for old Louis," he said with a wink.

"Alright," Mia said with a hesitant smile.

*An Hour And A Half Later*

"That was tiring," she told Louis, trying to catch her breath.

They had caught sight of hunters, making Louis panic and resulting in them both running as fast as they could for at least ten minutes before they finally stopped.

"Sorry," said Louis apologetically.

"It's alright. How long till we get to Mama Odie?" she asked as she took in the sight around her. The foliage was beautiful and a sense of calm washed over her as her heart started to come back to its normal rate.

_It's all going to be okay, this Mama Odie will surely help me..._ she reassured herself.

"It's right up there," said Louis, pointing a clawed finger at a large tree not too far away.

Mia stared. "How did a boat get up there?" she asked incredulously.

"No idea," he said, shrugging.

She approached the tree cautiously, looking for a way to climb up into the old boat that was perched precariously high above her.

"It's here!" said Louis, running to the other side of the tree. Mia walked over to see him standing next to a rickety ladder.

"Ladies first," he said, bowing.

Mia laughed and curtsied to the alligator before climbing up the ladder. She heaved herself up into the boat and tumbled in with Louis following closely behind.

The boat was filled with a plethora of masks, vases and plants. She cringed at the sight of teeth and two eyeballs looking up at her in a jar and shuffled over to the side.

There was a hammock hanging overhead and to the side, there was a tub filled with some sort of soup.

_I wonder where she bathes, if at all_, she thought.

"Mama Odie?" Mia tentatively called out into the empty boat.

"Oh!" she gasped in surprise as a green snake dropped down from the ceiling, staring at her with its big pink eyes before slithering away.

"Juju! Why didn't you tell me that I had guests?" a voice said reproachfully as a door on the side opened.

Mia looked up to see an elderly woman clad in a white dress and hat coming out. The snake slithered over to her and she picked it up, wrapping it around her neck much like the long feathery scarves that Mia didn't exactly know the name of at the moment.

"Uh, hello Mama Odie," she said hesitantly. She looked over at Louis in bewilderment.

"She's blind, she sees through Juju," he mouthed. Well, that explained the black glasses.

"Well hello there! And would your business here be, Miss Winters?" she asked, and Mia blinked in surprise.

Mama Odie laughed. "I'm a mind reader as well," she told her.

Mia smiled. "Then you probably know what I'm here for," she told the blind voodoo woman.

"Actually I don't," said Mama Odie, frowning. "Everything in your mind's all blurred and murky. Hello there Louis," she said, noticing the alligator standing beside Mia.

"Hello Mama Odie. How y'all doin'?" he asked brightly.

Mama Odie walked over to the big wicker chair at the very back of the room and sat down, sighing contentedly.

"I'm doin' fine, how's Tiana and Naveen's restaurant comin' along?"

"Oh, it's goin' real good," said Louis happily. "The band's attracting a lotta customers."

Mia sighed as she ruffled her hair, looking up at the candles in the bottles hanging from the ceiling that made a colourful chandelier.

"Mama Odie—"

"That's good, that's good," she said, petting Juju absentmindedly. "I s'pose y'all—"

"Mama Odie!" said Mia exasperatedly.

"Yes, child?" she asked.

"I _really_, need to talk to you. Alone," she added, looking over apologetically at Louis. "There are a few personal matters that I need to discuss," she said, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"I'll be waitin' down by the river," he said brightly, and with that he quickly left the boat.

"I'm sure you're aware of Dr. Facilier, a voodoo practitioner that lives in the Quarter?" Mia asked.

"I raised him as my own child for a good part of his life before he went runnin' off to his 'Friends'," said Mama Odie, nodding.

"Yeah, well I really need a way to keep him out of my head," said Mia, feeling ridiculous as she said it.

"Keep him out of your head?" she repeated in bewilderment.

"You see, one thing led to another, and now all my possessions are in his hands, I have nowhere else to stay, and the way he's invading my privacy by listening to everything in my mind doesn't help things," Mia said uncomfortably.

"All your memories are hazy," Mama Odie said, frowning. "What is it that you aren't telling me?"

"I'm from the future," said Mia, biting her lip.

"That's better now," said Mama Odie, nodding her approval. She suddenly laughed. "You _are_ in a pickle, aren't you?" she said, shaking her head.

"So you understand why I—ahh," she gasped as a searing pain went through her head.

(Facilier POV)

"I'm sure you're aware of Dr. Facilier, a voodoo practitioner that lives in the Quarter?" The familiar voice rang through his head as he was searching desperately for an antidote to the gender swapping potion that Shadow had so kindly dropped.

Facilier's fingers gripped the page he was about to turn in the old potions book.

His eyes narrowed as he made his way over to his crystal ball.

_What has she been up to while I was busy?_ He thought as he waved his hand over the ball, making the image of Mia appear.

Of Mia talking to Mama Odie.

Facilier drew a sharp intake of breath through his teeth.

"I raised him as my own child for a good part of his life before he went runnin' off to his 'Friends'," said Mama Odie, nodding.

Facilier glared at the blind voodoo lady. He knew that there was only one thing that Mia would run off to Mama Odie for.

"Yeah, well I really need a way to keep him out of my head," said Mia, biting her lip.

Facilier scowled at the crystal ball as he held the table in a white knuckled grip.

He should've known that the little princess would have directed Mia to Odie.

"Keep him out of your head?" Mama Odie repeated, confused.

"You see, one thing led to another, and now all my possessions are in his hands, I have nowhere else to stay, and the way he's invading my privacy by listening to everything in my mind doesn't help things," Mia said uncomfortably.

"All your memories are hazy," Mama Odie said, frowning. "What is it that you ain't telling me?"

A small part of Facilier felt strangely satisfied that the voodoo woman was having difficulty seeing Mia's memories like he had, but it didn't do anything to help squelch his anger.

"I'm from the future," said Mia, biting her lip again.

"That's better now," said Mama Odie, nodding, her face thoughtful as she scoured Mia's memories. She suddenly laughed. "You _are_ in a pickle, aren't you?" she said, shaking her head.

He closed his eyes and focused at going into Mia's mind.

"So you understand why I—ahh," Mia gasped, her hands flying to her head.

Facilier opened his eyes and chuckled at the pained look on her face.

(Mia POV)

"What happened, child?" asked Mama Odie, confused.

Mia felt as if her head was on fire as her knees buckled and she fell to the floor.

"My head," she hissed, trying to fight off the pain. "I, I don't know what's wrong," she said, blinking away the reddish blobs that were blurring her vision.

She tried to block the feeling of little white hot knives attacking her head as she tried to pull herself up with the anchor that was lying next to her.

Enjoying yourself Mia? Asked Facilier cruelly, the cold amusement in his voice making her grit her teeth.

"It's Facilier," she growled as she leaned against the anchor, the cold metal doing nothing for the pain.

_Leave me alone_, she hissed, trying to push the pain out of her mind to no avail.

I don't think so Mia. You see, you went along and tattletaled to Mama Odie, and for that you're going to pay, he said venomously, and Mia groaned as the pain intensified.

"Get out of my head," she said, trying to make a mental wall to block out the pain unsuccessfully.

Mama Odie frowned as she delved into Mia's mind to see what was wrong.

Her frown deepened as she realized what was happening.

Facilier cursed as he realized that he was not alone.

**Y'all better keep outta Miss Mia's head**, she told him irritably.

The pain only increased.

Mia let a soft moan escape her lips as she slid down to the floor.

**Still as boneheaded as you used to be when you were a young'un, huh?** Said Odie dryly.

Within moments the pain subsided and Mia was left with an aching head.

Mama Odie smiled in satisfaction.

"How did you stop him?" Mia asked her weakly as she struggled to get up.

"I gave the man a dose of his own medicine," said Mama Odie dryly.

"You mean..."

"Yes, I did the same thing he did to you. Mind you, he didn't take it well," she said with a chuckle.

"Thank you," Mia said gratefully as she rubbed her forehead, wincing.

"So y'all need a way to block him from your mind?"

"Yes ma'am," she said hesitantly.

Mama Odie appraised her.

"Be careful, child. Even with this mental block, y'all still aren't completely safe," she said, and with that she started to whisper an incantation.

She then nodded, satisfied.

"The block is in place. But if you need for Facilier to hear your thoughts, direct them towards him and it'll go through the block."

"Why would I ever need Facilier to hear my thoughts?" Mia asked, confused, but the voodoo queen didn't answer her.

"Mia!" yelled Louis. "We need to get going!"

Mia smiled at Odie warmly. "Thank you for helping Mama Odie," she said gratefully as she turned to leave.

"One thing child," said Mama Odie, and Mia turned back and looked quizzically at her.

"Yes?"

"No one but Facy knows about y'all bein' from the future, correct?"

Mia suppressed a smirk at the nickname Mama Odie had for him. "Yes," she said quietly.

Odie nodded. "Alright child. Run along now," and Juju slithered up to Mia and licked her in farewell.

"Good bye Mama Odie. You too Juju," said Mia as she left the boat.

"What took so long?" asked Louis as Mia stumbled and fell over one of the tree's roots.

"An issue came up," Mia muttered, rubbing her still aching head. "Let's go."

_I will make him pay_, she vowed venomously as they both trekked back to the restaurant.

*An Hour And A Half Later*

"So let me get this straight," said Tiana. "You went to Mama Odie and while you were asking for help, Shadowman—"

"Went and gave me a major migraine for doing so, yes," said Mia dryly as she held the bag of ice to her forehead.

The aching had only increased since she had started her journey back to the restaurant.

"You poor thing. Are you sure you don't want me to get Mama Odie and—"

"No, no, it's totally fine!" said Mia, jolting up. "Ow," she muttered, realizing that getting up so quickly wasn't a very bright idea as the room started to spin.

She clutched her head, blinking rapidly as everything slowly stopped moving.

"You okay?" asked Tiana, concerned.

"I—I need to get back to the emp—my aunt's house," said Mia hastily, nearly biting her lip at her slip up.

Tiana frowned. "Alright. Are you sure there isn't anything else I can do for you?" she asked, the apprehension apparent on her face.

Mia clutched the chair with one hand, the other on her hip as she stared into space, deep in thought.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Actually, there _is_ something you could do that would help," she said. "Do you have any positions available here?"

Tiana blinked in surprise. "Well, we do need a few waitresses for the evening shifts, but—"

"That'd be fine," said Mia, the grin growing a bit more prominent.

"Are you sure Mia?" asked Tiana hesitantly. "You said you're only staying for a month. Do you want to spend your evenings working as a waitress?"

"I might stay for more than just a month," said Mia. "Anyway, I need the extra money. I've also got experience working as a waitress," she added, hoping that it would help.

_**At least you didn't lie to her about your job experience like you did with everything else**_, said the voice wryly.

Mia ignored it, looking hopefully up at Tiana.

Tiana seemed to be considering her offer. "Would you be able to start work at 5:30 in the evening tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yep," said Mia brightly.

"In that case, you're hired," said Tiana with a smile, sticking out her hand. "I'll get you your employee uniform tomorrow."

Mia beamed as she shook Tiana's hand. "Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow," and with that they said their goodbyes and Mia swiftly left the restaurant.

Her throbbing head was acting as a siren, the pulsing in her ears warning her of what she was walking towards.

_Facilier_. The name brought back the cold fury she had felt in the swamp, making her airy smile slip into a scowl.

_The man is going to pay for this_, Mia seethed silently as she stalked down the streets, ignoring the stares directed at her odd (and now muddy) attire, not to mention the rage that she was just barely masking.

(Facilier POV)

"Damn Odie," Facilier cursed.

**Why did you go and do that to the girl? You're supposed to be gaining her trust, not frying her brain**, snapped Shadow. **And what Odie did hurt my head just as much**, he reminded Facilier.

"Just like how I felt that kick to the groin when you went after Mia?" asked the bokor wryly.

**Touch****é**_, _Shadow muttered.

Facilier sighed as he took his hat off, thankful that long black hair didn't fall out of it this time.

Shadow snickered at his master.

Faclier scowled at the silhouette. "At least I fixed it before the girl could co—"

As if on cue, Mia stalked through the door, her cheeks crimson as she breathed heavily.

Facilier appraised her angered and disheveled look before chuckling as he sauntered over.

"Why hello, _che_—"

Facilier suddenly found himself on the ground with blood trickling from his nose.

He looked up at Mia, bemused.

(Mia POV)

"I have fast reflexes," said Mia casually, some of the anger ebbing away as she stood over the man who was sprawled on the floor.

She barely had time to look over at his shade who was clutching his nose before the witch doctor pulled her down to the floor and pinned her to the ground.

"You miserable wench," he hissed, his violet eyes growing a few shades darker.

"That's _Miss _Miserable Wench to you," she growled back, arching her hips to make him fall forward before taking her leg out from under him and rolling him over.

She was quickly pulled off of him by Shadow who pinned her arms behind her back.

She struggled against the silhouette as Facilier got to his feet.

She scowled at Facilier as he approached her, dipping his spindly fingers underneath her chin and bringing her face up to meet his.

The gentleness of his touch enraged Mia more than if he had been rough.

Gentle meant he thought he was in control.

Gentle meant he thought he was going to win.

"If y'all apologize now, I'll spare you," he said darkly.

"I'd rather die," Mia spat, kicking him in the groin. Hard.

Almost immediately, Shadow let go of her and she quickly backed away.

Facilier cursed as he doubled over in pain.

_Gotta knock him out, gotta knock him out, how do I knock him out?_ Thought Mia desperately as the witch doctor straightened up, his now eggplant purple eyes clearly telling her that he wasn't going to show her any mercy.

**_His neck damn it, hit the brachial plexus artery_**, hissed the voice as Mia stumbled away from the enraged bokor. _**He'll fall unconscious for a good ten minutes!**_

Mia eyed the cane that Facilier was holding warily.

He raised the cane and pointed it at her.

She frowned for a moment, wondering what he meant by the action until fire erupted from it.

"Crap!" Mia gasped, diving down to avoid being licked by the angry flames.

She winced at the pain in her hip as she looked up at the witch doctor who was smirking at her.

Suddenly, she felt furious. How many times was she going to run away, duck, hide?

She wasn't about to give him the power.

_Not this time._

She slowly got to her feet, staring him in the eye defiantly.

"You're the most evil, twisted bastard I have ever met," Mia said quietly, contempt dripping off every word.

It worked like a charm. With a snarl, Facilier began to advance towards her, cane in hand.

She took a deep breath and ran at him, tackling him to the floor.

After a bit of struggling and trying to keep his cane away from her, Mia finally hit the brachial plexus artery on his neck with the side of her hand, disrupting the blood flow and making him fall unconscious.

Mia sighed in relief and pushed the limp witch doctor off of her as she got to her feet.

She eyed him with disgust. Her lips then upturned in a smirk as she noticed the unconscious shade lying not too far away from its master.

Mia knelt down on one knee and looked at the unconscious voodoo man thoughtfully.

"You know, anyone else would leave you on the floor."

She then gave him a crooked smile. "But I'm not like anyone else."

And with that she picked up the limp man, looking around for the door to his room.

She smiled in satisfaction as she noticed a door near a huge bookshelf.

Mia half carried half dragged the man to his room.

She opened the door and gaped.

"You're kidding me with this, right?" she asked him incredulously.

No response.

Obviously.

On his bed he had purple satin bed sheets and pillows. She frowned down at the witch doctor.

"Yuck," she said simply, dragging him into the room and dumping him unceremoniously on his bed.

She quickly went and picked up his shade before dumping him next to his master.

She stared at the unconscious duo before bursting into laughter.

She carefully laid Facilier in a way so that he wouldn't have permanent neck damage when he awoke.

Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.

"Why can't I stay mad at anyone for long?" she muttered, frowning down at the skinny voodooist.

Although her anger had receded, she still had a strong disliking for the man.

Her gaze raked over him, lingering at the peaceful look on his face.

Suddenly, a memory of when she was a little girl swam to the front of her mind.

(Flashback)

"Hey, Winters!" called Brandon, running up to her with his friends.

"Leave me alone," she told the group of boys irritably, trying not to show them that she was intimidated.

"Why should we leave a little squirt like you alone?" asked the boy beside Brandon.

"You're only a year older than me," she said huffily. "Just 'cause you're in grade four and I'm in grade three, it doesn't make me a little baby, so stop treating me like that."

"You're just a loser, Winters," said Michael as he sauntered up to the front of the little crowd.

Mia's blood started to boil as she clenched her small fists. "You're the loser here Michael, all of you and your bully friends. No one likes you. They're all just scared of you 'cause you're evil monsters," she spat.

All his friends looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Really, Winters?" asked Brandon in between guffaws, "_Evil monsters?_"

Her gray eyes hardened. "Yeah, evil monsters. All you do is go and push people around, acting like you're so cool. You made Alexis cry yesterday!"

"She's ugly," said Michael simply.

"No she's not! You guys pick on her all the time. You pick on everyone all the time! Especially Caleb! What is up with you guys?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"You know what, Winters? I think we need to teach you a lesson," said Brandon, making the boys around him snicker.

"Oh really? How are you gonna do that?" she asked with a grin, as if daring him to try and touch her.

Everyone that had an issue with Mia knew that it was in their best interests not to take their anger out on her, seeing as she was one of the best fighters around.

"Get her stupid friend, James," said Michael to a boy in the back of the crowd.

Mia's eyes narrowed as the boy he had called to and another one went off to get James.

"Whaddaya want with James?" she asked, concerned for the boy.

James was the complete opposite of her. While she ran around screaming and biting people's heads off, he would be cool, calm and collected, thinking before coming to a logical decision.

Thanks to him, Mia had avoided making many more enemies than she already had and had even avoided a fist fight.

Them bringing him into a confrontation purposely was not something she liked.

"You'll see," Michael said snidely.

Mia frowned at him as she saw her lanky friend nearly being dragged over to the little group.

"Here he is," said one of the boys, shoving him into the middle of the circle.

Mia quickly grabbed him before he could fall to the ground, glaring up at the boys who snickered.

"Thanks Mia," said James gratefully, pushing his dark auburn hair out of his chocolate brown eyes.

"What did you bring him here for?" Mia demanded.

"Admit it Winters, as much as you like beating people up and acting like you don't care about anyone, you care a lot about your friends. You don't like 'em getting _hurt_," said Brandon smugly.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Mia, growing angry and anxious for her friend.

"Mia, relax," said James gently.

"What do you mean by that?" repeated Mia, clenching her fists again.

"Ohhh, someone's getting angry," said Charles mockingly from the middle of the group, raising raucous laughter.

"We're gonna make James wish he never met you," said Brandon menacingly.

Mia wrestled down the panic she felt as she looked over at James who looked slightly anxious.

"You aren't touching him," she told them, grabbing James' hand.

"Oh, are you his girlfriend now?" asked Michael, eliciting the strident laughter again.

Before Mia could react, she was grabbed by about five boys and James was pushed to the ground.

"No!" she gasped, trying to reach for her fallen friend but was pulled back by the boys who had restrained her.

James tried to get up off the asphalt but was pushed roughly back onto the ground, making him graze his palms.

"James! Leave him alone!" Mia screeched, trying to get away from her captors to no avail.

"Do you really wanna be her friend now, James?" asked Brandon coldly. "We'll let you go if you say that you won't be her friend anymore."

James looked up at the boy calmly. "I'm never gonna say that. She's my best friend."

Mia's eyes widened as Brandon roughly kicked him in the stomach.

James winced as he tried to get up only to be pushed back down again.

Mia grit her teeth in frustration.

"You sure you still wanna be friends with her? We'll let you go now if you say you hate her," said Michael with a devilish grin.

"James, just do as he says," said Mia as she unsuccessfully tried to pull away from the mob that held her. "I don't want you hurt."

"No Mia," said James as he got to his feet.

Mia felt her heart sink to her navel as James stared Michael in the eye. "I won't say anything bad about her. We're friends, and you can't change that," he said defiantly.

Michael scowled. "Then she gets to watch you get beat up," he growled, and with that he, Brandon and two other boys attacked James.

"No," Mia breathed, her eyes widening as she saw James fall to the ground in a flurry of kicks and punches.

"Having fun, Winters?" asked Charles mockingly as he held onto her arm.

Her eyes then narrowed at the boy next to her. "Let me go, all of you!" she yelled, struggling to get to James.

"How'd you like Winters now?" yelled Brandon as he sat on top of James, punching him in the face repeatedly.

"No! Stop it!" Mia screamed, angry tears blurring her vision as she desperately tried to reach out for her friend.

James weakly tried to block the punches by covering his face but one of the boys held his arms over his head, giving Brandon free range.

"No…" Mia moaned, the sight of her friend getting pummeled into dust as she stood there unable to do anything killing her inside.

Brandon stopped punching James to inspect the damage he had done.

He grinned broadly as he saw the tears streaking James' bruised and bloody face.

"Let him go," said Mia, the tears flowing freely as she hopelessly tried to squirm away from her captors.

"Take back what you said about you and Winters being friends," Michael commanded.

"James, please, just take it back," she pleaded, ignoring the pleasure on Brandon's face as he soaked in her angered and pained look.

"N—no," said James weakly, wiping the blood from his lip. "Do what you want, I'll never take it back."

"James, no!" Mia screamed as Michael's boot connected with the side of his head.

She stared at her hardly moving friend with bloodshot eyes, the tears not relenting their flow.

Michael and Brandon left James on the ground as they sauntered up to Mia, grinning.

"You guys aren't even human," she whispered. "Humans don't do this."

They all burst into peals of laughter as she stared at them, expressionless.

"He asked for it. And now you know what happens, when you don't know your _place_, Winters," said Brandon coldly.

They all let go of her, making her drop to her knees.

All she could see and hear was James as they all laughed and crowed about how they had shown her.

"James," she whispered as they walked away, leaving her and James in the grassy area.

Tears started to fall again as she made her way over to him, gently rolling him onto his back.

"I'm so sorry James," she said softly as her eyes trickled over his cut and bleeding lower lip, black eye and the bump that was beginning to form on the side of his head.

All because of her.

James stirred slightly as his eyes fluttered open.

"Mia?" he croaked.

"James, why'd you go and tell them you were still gonna be my friend?" she asked, angry with him for not revoking their friendship and disgusted with herself for letting this happen.

"Because I _am_ still gonna be your friend," he said weakly.

"This is all my fault..." she whispered.

If she wasn't so arrogant, if she had just backed down to them when they had told her to…

"No it isn't," James said quietly, wincing as he tried to get up.

Mia frowned at him, quickly and gently lifting him up and carrying him over to a tree, laying his back against it.

"I wasn't worth all that," she told him irritably.

"I'm not a liar. If I said that I hated you and I didn't wanna be your friend, that would be lying," he said.

Even through her exasperation, Mia couldn't help but smile at him.

His matter of fact tone and calm demeanor had always made her feel better, no matter what happened.

She looked at her beat and bloody friend and anger started to gnaw at her insides.

"I'm going after those jerks," she said, getting up.

James held onto her sleeve. "Don't."

"Why not? They beat you up!"

James frowned at her. "They beat me up 'cause you wouldn't back down to them," he said pointedly, as if she was missing something important.

"Oh," she breathed. Making a face, she plopped down on the grass next to him.

"They're the worst people I've ever met," she muttered, roughly pulling out the grass beside her.

"They aren't completely bad." Mia looked up at James, shocked.

"Aren't completely bad? How can they have _any_ good in them? Look at what they did to you!"

"Everyone has a little good in them Mia," said James quietly. "They all seem pretty mean—"

"_Seem pretty mean_?" Mia asked incredulously. "They're pure evil!"

James frowned at her again, making her sigh.

"Go on," she muttered.

"They all seem pretty mean, but they aren't completely bad. No one is."

Mia kept plucking at the grass absentmindedly as she pondered upon what he said.

"I s'pose you're right," she said, heaving a sigh.

She looked down in surprise at the little heap of grass that she had made.

"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up," Mia said, getting up and offering her hand to James.

James smiled gratefully as he took her hand and pulled himself up.

(End of Flashback)

"They aren't completely bad. No one is…" Mia whispered, repeating the words that she was told so long ago.

She looked over at the witch doctor, frowning.

_Can these words apply to him_? She wondered.

She suddenly remembered everything that Tiana had told her about him.

_He steals souls. And to steal souls, wouldn't he have to…?_

She couldn't finish the thought.

_**Kill them?**_ Asked the voice hesitantly.

Mia sighed.

_Yes_, she said quietly.

She laughed under her breath.

_I should be more appalled at the stealing souls part. He steals 'em and then gives 'em to his 'friends on the other side', and from what I understand the 'other side' is basically the voodoo equivalent of hell which pretty much ruins the person's afterlife_, she thought, looking over at the man.

She was sitting next to a murderer.

"Funny," she mused.

She thought that by now, she'd be running out of the room, tugging at the time machine desperately as she tried to get out of there before he woke up.

Or at least be insanely scared.

But she was sitting there quite calmly, letting the thought sit there for a while as she mulled over it.

_Everyone has a little good in them…_ James voice seemed to echo in her head.

"Really? Can even a murderer have a spark of good in them?" she murmured, her brow furrowed.

_**Perhaps?**_ Said the voice uncertainly.

Mia sighed, running her hand through her hair.

_Let's just say that somewhere, deep inside his black heart, there is a little bit of good. Alright? Now how on earth is that supposed to help me when he's about to kill me? _

_**We don't know if he's going to kill you**_, said the voice uncertainly.

Mia snorted derisively.

_**Alright, I think we both know that he's got some plan that has something to do with you, and it isn't going to end well. From the looks of it, you're probably going to get killed not because of the plan, but because of his insane anger**_, said the voice dryly.

_Right_, thought Mia sardonically. _My question is, what am I supposed to do about it?_

_**Perhaps you should try to get to that 'little bit of good' deep inside his black heart?**_ The voice suggested.

Mia smirked disdainfully. _There is no good in him_, she told the voice.

_**There was a reason you started this conversation with me in the first place**_, said the voice pointedly.

Mia sighed again. What the voice said was true, but just the thought of trying to get through the man's cold, hard exterior to a spark of warmth that might not even be there was enough to tire her.

_Come on, you really can't expect me to do this. How am I supposed to keep him from shooting flames at me when he wakes up let alone carry a civil conversation? And to get from a civil conversation to anything near—_

_**You need to figure this out Mimi**_, the voice told her firmly.

Mia scowled. _It's bad enough that James calls me that, now you too?_

_**You can't really do anything about it**_ **Mimi**, said the voice, smug at her irritation. _**Have fun trying to remain unscathed tonight.**_

"Stupid voice," Mia muttered irritably.

_This is gonna suck_, she thought with a sigh.

How was she supposed to go about doing the impossible?

She had never backed away from a challenge, but this seemed a little more unfeasible than most of the challenges that were thrown down at her.

_I don't really have a choice, do I?_ She thought to herself, displeased with the turn of events.

"Hmmph?" said Facilier dazedly, bringing Mia out of her thoughts.

He looked at her in confusion, blinking rapidly as he tried to understand what had happened.

He narrowed his eyes as he glared up at the woman.

Mia brought her face ever so close to his, a smirk playing on her lips.

"It seems like Miss Miserable Wench won this time," she said with quiet amusement.

Facilier scowled and struggled to get up but Mia gently pushed him back down.

"If you try to hurt me again, I'm not so sure you'll wake up this time around," she told him threateningly. "Anyhow, after you tried to cook my brain, I went to Tiana's Place and landed myself a job there as a waitress. Since I really don't have any other options, I shall be staying in your emporium. I'll pay my rent weekly once I get my first paycheck. I'm sure your head is hurting right now and mine is as well, so I think we should both get to sleep. Both you and your shadow have a good night," she said in a businesslike tone, getting up.

To her surprise, a small smile tugged at Facilier's lips. "Alright, _cherie_. You've got yourself a deal," he said as he laid back down comfortably.

She gave him a curt nod before turning on her heel and walking away.

She suddenly turned around and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed as she looked at him thoughtfully.

"I have a question," she said.

Facilier raised an eyebrow as he sat up. "And what would your question be?"

"What is up with the purple satin bed sheets? I mean, that type of fabric as a bed sheet is usually only used for…" she trailed off, frowning.

"I tend to have _visitors_ over often," he said, grinning broadly at the half disgusted half amused look on Mia's face.

She tried to contain her laughter but it bubbled out anyway. "Visitors. Of course. Anyway, good night," she told him before quietly closing the door and heading off into her own room.

She rocked back on her heels, falling back onto the bed.

She sighed as she stared up at the ceiling.

"This is going to be no easy feat," she muttered to herself.

(Facilier POV)

Shadow stirred slightly, finally waking up.

_**What the hell happened?**_ He asked irritably as he got up, rubbing his head.

"Little Miss Miserable Wench seems to think she has the upper hand now," said Facilier, wickedly amused as he put his hat over his eyes. "Not bein' able to read her mind won't stop me. Nothin' will."

(End of Chapter)

**I know, I know, I suck. *hangs head in shame***

**I said I'd update like, what, **_**two months ago**_**?**

**Go ahead, throw all the fruits and vegetables you want at me. I deserve it.**

**HOLY CRAP, PUT DOWN THAT WATERMELON! When I said throw all the fruits and vegetables you want at me, I didn't mean huge—**

***gets hit with a tomato***

…**Yeah, I guess I deserved that.**

**I hope y'all liked this chapter, and as peeved as you may be with me, I'd love it if you left a review.**

**Pweese? *gives puppy eyes***

***gets hit in the face with another tomato***

…**I get the point! But please, review, alert, favorite or whatever, but reviews are really what keep me going. (:**

**I am not going to give up on this story. Never, ever, ever, ever. Even if I don't update for a long time, you should know that I am still writing and working things out. (:**

**Oh and don't forget about them reviews ;)**

***gets hit with **_**yet**_** another tomato***

**Okay, I'll shut up now.**


	9. Dead Man

**Disclaimer:**

**FACILIER IS MI- *is suddenly surrounded by SWAT team***

**Just joking?**

(Start of Chapter)

Mia felt something cool nudge her.

"Lemmalone," she mumbled, swatting at whatever it was before rolling over.

She was nudged again, this time harder.

"Fimore...min..." she yawned, worming herself into the sheets.

She was prodded yet again.

Irritated, she poked her head out of the sheets. "Shadow? Come on, I need my sleep, tell your master to leave me alone," she told him, putting her pillow over her head.

She let out a little shriek as the bed was tipped over and she spilled out onto the floor, sheets and all.

Shadow cackled at the disgruntled and sleepy woman.

She really could not catch a break, could she?

She threw the sheets off as she tried to regain whatever shred of dignity she had left by getting up gracefully.

She stumbled and fell back onto the bed.

So much for being graceful.

She glared at the shade who was clearly enjoying himself.

"Whaddaya want?" she asked huffily.

He pointed towards the chest of drawers.

"I will leave this bed when I damn well please," she told him, throwing the sheets back on and wriggling into them again, closing her eyes.

"Oh come on!" she said, exasperated as the bed was tipped over again and she fell back onto the ground, despite her attempts to cling onto the thin mattress.

She shook her hair out of her eyes in annoyance and she pushed the sheets off as she stumbled to her feet.

"Fine," she said, scowling. "I'll come out, but first I need to change my clothes."

Shadow smiled wickedly.

"Very funny," she said, making a face at him. "I'm not a strip show. Go away."

He laughed before slipping out of the room.

Mia shook her head and turned to see that the boxful of her possessions had turned into a small wardrobe.

She cocked an eyebrow before making her way over to the wardrobe and opening it to reveal all her clothes hanging on the rail.

"Being able to do things like this with a snap of your fingers must be neat," Mia said grudgingly, torn between mild gratitude and irritation.

Mia sighed and peeled her mud-spattered nightgown off before putting a sunshine yellow dress on.

She walked over to the small mirror on the other side of the room to see if she looked presentable.

She scowled at her reflection.

"Here we go," she muttered as she opened up the passageway and walked out into the main room.

She looked around quizzically for the shade and its master.

"Ow!" her hand flew to the back of her head as she whirled around to see Shadow grinning at her mischievously. "Flicking the back of my head. Real mature," she told the silhouette.

"Morning, _cherie_," came a quiet, amused voice from behind her.

Mia turned to see Facilier standing next to a table with a tray of fruits and a bowl of oatmeal.

"Hello..." she said, eyeing the tray warily.

"I already ate. This is for you."

"Why?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"You said yourself, you're my tenant. As your landlord, I can't have you starve, and I'm quite sure you're hungry," he said, raising his eyebrows as if daring her to protest.

Mia looked him in the eye defiantly. "I'm not," she told him.

As if the whole world was conspiring against her, her stomach grumbled loudly.

Mia's cheeks flushed as Facilier's deep throaty chuckle filled the room.

_Traitor_, Mia hissed mentally at her stomach.

It simply gurgled in response.

Mia looked at the food placed on the table.

_**It doesn't **_**look**_** tampered with**_, said the voice cautiously.

"It ain't poisoned," said Facilier, enjoying the distrustful look on her face.

Mia looked up at him, surprised. "How'd you know I was thinking that?"

_Has Mama Odie's block worn off?_ She thought frantically.

"It was written clear on your face, cherie," he said.

"I—you, well," she said, flustered and irritated. "I have no reason to trust you."

"Why ever not?" asked Facilier, feigning innocence.

Mia scowled. Why was it that he got under her skin so easily?

"Hmm, let's see," she said, pretending to be in deep thought. "You lock me into your guest room the night I come over. Obviously nothing to be distrustful about," she said sarcastically. "Then the next day your damn shadow steals my time machine on _your orders_. Nothing to be worried about. Then I get some stupid nightmare of being swallowed by a mask that looks _exactly_ like the one on _that_ wall," she said, jerking her thumb towards said wall. "Nothing to be concerned abou—don't you dare laugh," she told him threateningly as his lips twitched, "_then_ you go and attack my head for going to Mama Odie and asking her to keep you out of my mind. _**Then**_, as if that wasn't enough, when I come back to the emporium 'cause I have no other choice, you try to barbeque me!" she hissed. "_That_ is why I have no reason to trust you."

Her stomach grumbled again.

"That aside, the fact of the matter is that you're hungry and need someone, namely me, to supply you sustenance," said Facilier, wickedly amused.

"I—oh, damn it all," she growled, grabbing an apple from the tray before disappearing into her time machine.

_**You really need to learn how to control your temper**_, the voice admonished.

_It isn't my fault_, she replied childishly, biting into the apple.

Facilier casually walked over to the door of the machine to see Mia sitting cross legged on the floor, elbows on her knees as she munched away at her apple.

He raised his eyebrows at her, his gaze shifting towards the chair.

"I like sitting on the floor in the morning," she said, shrugging as she took another bite.

A smile tugged at Facilier's lips. "Y'all didn't seem to like it much when Shadow tipped over the bed."

Mia narrowed her eyes at the witch doctor before going back to her apple.

"There was some sort of burning smell comin' from your machine early in the morning, you might want to check that out," he said.

Mia choked.

Facilier let out a chuckle as Mia put her apple up on the control panel, a hand flying to her chest as she coughed hard.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you that while you were eatin'," he said.

"No, you shouldn't have," Mia managed between coughs, stumbling out of the machine.

Idiotic.

How could she have forgotten to check the internal damage when she had landed?

"Thanks for telling me," she said, sighing before laying down on the ground, she grabbing the legs of the machine and pulling herself under until she was facing the hatch.

_Let's hope the damage isn't too extensive_, she thought to herself as she unlocked the hatch and opened the small door.

Her face was met with billowing black smoke.

"_Shit_—" Mia's coughed violently as she helplessly flapped at the smoke, unable to breathe.

_Gotta get out_, was her only thought as she swiped at the tears that were streaming from her eyes.

Suddenly the machine was lifted up and she took the chance to crawl away quickly.

She was on her hands and knees, her body racking with coughs as she gasped for air that she couldn't seem to take in.

Facilier offered her his hand but she ignored him, grasping at the wall to get herself up.

His lips twitched at the woman's pride. "Y'all alright, _cherie_?"

"Fine," she rasped, still struggling to clear her lungs. "But my machine sure as hell isn't."

She frowned at the machine that still had smoke pouring from the bottom, not noticing Facilier and Shadow exchange an amused glance.

Facilier snapped his fingers and all the smoke condensed into a black sphere before disappearing with a small _poof_.

"Thanks," she muttered. "Were you the one who picked up the machine?"

Facilier shook his head.

Shadow grinned at Mia.

"Thank you," she said, giving the silhouette a small smile.

"I get a mumbled thanks while my shadow gets a thank you with a smile?" said Facilier, feigning hurt.

"Your shadow isn't the one who's trying to kill me," Mia said simply as she went into her machine.

"You're breakin' my heart," said Facilier with a chuckle.

"You don't have one," Mia said, amused, as she came out with a creeper board*.

"I've been told worse," said Facilier, his lips stretched in a gator like grin.

Mia's smile faded as she looked at her machine, worried.

_What could have possibly gone wrong for it to smoke up like that?_ She wondered, not noticing the smug look on Facilier's face as he shook his head at her.

"Y'all can fix your machine," he said, grabbing his cane as it materialized out of nowhere. "I'm going to be out for a while."

"Stealing souls and conning people out of their money, no doubt," she said, setting the board down at her feet.

"All in a day's work, _cherie_," said Facilier, smirking as he tipped his hat to her. For a fraction of a second, Mia thought she saw worry in his eyes. "Try to be careful when y'all are out on the streets. I ain't the only dangerous thing out there." And with that he swept himself out of the emporium.

Mia raised an eyebrow.

_**The man who tried to **_**burn you alive**_** last night is telling you to be **_**careful**_**?**_ said the voice incredulously.

_He just doesn't want me to get killed. It probably wouldn't be beneficial to his little plan_, she muttered to herself dryly, lying down on the creeper and pulling herself under the machine to start her work.

After a few hours of inspection, cursing under her breath and unsuccessfully trying to figure out where the damage was (the few blackened wires she had found definitely didn't have the power to create all that smoke), she left for her first day of work at Tiana's Place, but not before slipping a pocketknife into her shoe, wary of Facilier's warning.

"I'm here," said Mia, walking into the kitchen.

"Hello Mia. You're a bit early, you know," said Tiana as she looked up from her clipboard.

"I've always found coming early on the first day helps," said Mia lightly.

"I have a feeling we both are going to get along quite well," said Tiana with a smile. "I've got your uniform ready, hanging in my office. You can change in there. I need to clear a few details with the band, so I'll be back soon." And with that she hurried out of the kitchen.

Mia walked into Tiana's office to see a pale green knee length dress on the back of a chair.

She picked it up and attached the small badge that read her name onto the uniform before slipping into it.

She stuffed her other dress unceremoniously into her bag, not caring about the inevitable wrinkles she would find in the cloth when she took it out again.

She could already hear orders being called ("I need two more bouillabaisse!") and the sound of cooking (not to mention the smell) filling the air.

Mia primly smoothed the front of her dress, gave her best 'waitress smile', and grabbed the little notebook and pen before going out the door.

For someone who tended to be snippy, waitressing, oddly enough, was one of the small jobs she had liked while she was trying to scrape some extra money for an invention that she'd been designing.

Even if she had been in a bad mood before she headed out into the restaurant, she wouldn't have had any trouble being pleasant to the customers. The music and atmosphere was infectious, and soon enough she found herself actually smiling as she walked in and out of the kitchen with trays, refilling drinks, and taking plates from people who had finished their food.

A cheer went up as Louis took the stage with an upbeat tune and couples quickly took to the dance floor.

"You enjoyed the music, I presume?" asked the sous-chef, Oscar, with a smile as Mia grabbed her bag from a hook at the end of her shift, absentmindedly humming the song 'Hello Dolly' by Louis Armstrong.

Her cheeks coloured.

"Yep. The band sure knows how to carry a tune," she said with a grin.

Oscar chuckled, bidding her goodnight as she waved and turned to leave the kitchen.

Mia walked out into the warm evening air, feeling happier than she had in days.

She started her walk back to the emporium when she saw something dark move around the back of the alley.

Suspicious, she slung her bag on her shoulder and took a few tentative steps into the alley.

Peering through the darkness, she saw the shadow of a little girl kneeling on the ground who seemed to be sobbing, her tiny frame shaking as she buried her face in her hands.

Mia stared in bewilderment. What would a little girl be doing crying behind a restaurant at this time of night?

"Uh, kid, you okay?" she called.

The girl didn't acknowledge her.

She frowned, walking further into the alley.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" she asked gently as she turned the corner to face the little girl.

"What-?"

There was no girl behind the shadow.

The silhouette looked up at her with a fiendish grin.

Everything fell into place with lightning speed.

_Shit_.

Mia broke into a run, but before she could reach the mouth of the alley, she was slammed against the brick wall by the throat.

She opened her mouth to scream but no sound would come out due to the crushing pressure on her larynx.

_This is not good_, she thought, looking towards the mouth of the alley only to see the street empty.

She looked up at the now undisguised shadow and would have recoiled if she hadn't been up against the wall.

The shade was reptilian, sharp spikes going down the back of its head, serrated ratchet teeth bared in a psychotic smile, its barbed tail dangerously close to Mia's shadow.

She struggled against the silhouette but found herself beginning to weaken.

(Shadow POV)

The girl's grip on his claws began to loosen as her eyelids fluttered.

He was hungry, and here she was, right in his hands...

No. He had strict orders to bring her back, soul intact.

She was almost unconscious now, her hands slipping away from his claws, giving up her futile struggle as her eyes rolled up in her head.

He let go of her and watched her fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.

She let out a soft involuntary moan, and he knew she wouldn't be capable of fighting him off.

He flew down next to her, staring at her for a moment before disappearing into her mouth.

After a few moments, her body stirred.

Her eyes opened, the silvery gray irises slowly turning cinereous, a cold dead look to them.

She got up, the motion too smooth and fluid for someone who had just lost consciousness, and quietly left the alley, leaving no trace of her presence behind.

(Facilier POV)

The balmy Louisiana air was filled with the sound of laughter and music trickling out of every bar and cafe as Facilier walked down the street unnoticed, blending into the evening shadows.

Mia was probably at the emporium, if she hadn't gotten lost due to her unfortunate sense of direction.

A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth, wondering if the girl had figured out that the unrelenting smoke had not been because of the damage.

**I doubt it**, snickered Shadow. **Knowing her, she must've had a right little tantrum when she couldn't find out the cause.**

"I couldn't let her get away with last night that easy, now could I?" said Facilier, his smirk broadening,

He looked up to see Mia walk down the street, her eyes void of emotion as she stared straight ahead.

He cocked an eyebrow. Something was off about her. Her gait was rigid, her arms barely moving from her sides as she swiftly made her way down the street.

Facilier and Shadow exchanged a puzzled glance before he started after her quietly, taking care not to be seen.

_The emporium's on the other side of town_, the bokor thought to himself, thoroughly confused as she turned on Orleans Ave. without any hesitation.

He resisted the urge to reveal himself, wanting to see where she was heading.

"Where does she think she's goin'?" said Facilier, frowning as she turned at Royal St.

**She's heading straight for the Lafayette Cemetery**, said Shadow, equally confused.

The witch doctor tried to keep from shuddering as he reluctantly followed her past the gates, shrines lining either side of the path. The cemetery was the very place where had almost met his horrific end with his 'Friends', unable to pay back his debt when Tiana broke the blood talisman.

Mia slid in and out of sight as she walked down the cobblestone path, moonlight illuminating her unnaturally stiff figure before she was covered by darkness again.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Y'all do know that this ain't the way to the emporium, right _cherie_?" called Facilier, keeping his tone light.

She stopped abruptly, her body unusually still.

The witch doctor frowned. "Mia? _Cherie_?"

She turned to face him, her expression vacant and eyes empty.

_Her eyes..._

Her eyes were the color of ashes.

Facilier swore under his breath. He should've known they would do this the first chance they got.

"Leave her," he said coldly.

Mia's lips curled in a cruel smile.

"I _said_, leave her," said Facilier forcefully.

Mia turned around, heading straight for the crumbled heap of rock that used to be a tombstone. His tombstone.

**He's going to take her through the portal**, said Shadow, worried. **Maybe I could help...?** he trailed off, knowing that his master wouldn't let him put himself in danger, especially when it came to the friends.

Facilier shot the silhouette a stern look before materializing a violet glowing orb in his hand and hurling at Mia.

She narrowly dodged it, falling to the ground in the process and giving the witch doctor the few precious seconds he needed to get to her.

She kicked at Facilier, knocking him to the ground as the unintelligible words of the shadow escaped her lips in an inhuman screech.

Facilier saw the horrifyingly familiar sickly green color starting to tinge the sky.

Trying to fight away the dread, he made his cane materialize in one hand, pushing Mia away with the other as he scrambled to his feet.

Facilier blocked Mia's way towards the tombstone, glancing back uneasily where he knew the Loa was hidden, waiting. Her face twisted into an ugly scowl, but before she could react, he directed his cane towards the cobblestones beneath her feet, making them shake violently so she wouldn't be able to get to her feet. He winced as her angered shrieks pierced the quiet night air.

The cobblestones stopped moving. Mia stumbled to her feet and started for the tombstone. Facilier took his chance and knocked her to the ground again, pressing the tip of his cane just below her neck.

She seemed to freeze for a moment, her eyes bulging before she started to thrash again.

Facilier grabbed her by the collar with one hand, his other hand training the cane at her with some difficulty.

He started to run the tip up her throat, trying to draw the shade out of her body.

Mia's voice turned raspy, her expression demonic as she tried to claw at him, desperate to get to the tombstone.

"Get _out_," he hissed.

Mia resisted, trying to kick and punch every part of him she could find.

Facilier grit his teeth, using every last bit of his strength to pull the tip of the cane up towards her mouth.

Her body froze, a greyish blob spewing forth from her lips as he carefully drew his cane away from her.

The blob seemed to writhe and thrash in the air, floating towards the cane's tip as if it were magnetized.

The moment it left Mia's mouth, her eyes turned back to her normal silvery greys and she drew in a short shuddery breath before collapsing to the ground.

Facilier deftly caught her with one arm, his cane still directed at the blob that was struggling.

"Get out of here," he snarled at the blob, which quickly reverted back into its reptilian form once it was free of Facilier's control.

The shade glared at the witch doctor, letting out an unhappy shriek before it disappeared into the crumbled wreckage of the tombstone.

Facilier looked up at the sky to see no trace of the ghoulish green mist that had been filling the air just moments before, confirmation that neither the reptilian shade nor its comrades were going to come after them.

Not just yet, anyway.

"Y'all have an interestin' way of entertaining yourselves, I'll give you that," he muttered.

Mia stirred slightly in his arms.

He looked down at her and cursed under his breath.

The shadow may not have taken her soul, but had drained most of her energy while it had occupied Mia's body.

Getting out of there would take some time.

Her eyelids fluttered.

"WhereamI...?" she murmured weakly.

"It's alright, _cherie_. You're..." Safe? What a joke. "...you're okay," said Facilier soothingly.

She squinted up at him before her eyes widened.

"You—"

"It wasn't me, Mia," he said quietly.

She stared at him for a few moments before deciding that he was telling the truth.

"Let me down," she commanded feebly.

He complied, gently setting her down on the ground.

"Why are we in a cemetery?" she asked accusingly, her legs trembling not from fear but from the sheer effort of staying upright.

Facilier suddenly tensed.

"I'll explain later," he said, his voice strained. "Let's just get out of here."

"I'll faint if I take more than two steps, Facilier," she said, holding onto a small fence that surrounded a shrine as a cold sweat broke out on her brow.

"What's the hurry?" someone asked from behind another crypt, a threatening edge to the otherwise pleasant voice.

Facilier's blood went cold.

White robed figures emerged from behind the shrines, their pointed hoods stark against the cobalt sky.

_The Klan_, he thought, his heart sinking as he looked over at the weakened white woman beside him. _I'm a dead man._

(End of Chapter)

*** **_**Creeper **__**board**_** as in the board with wheels used in a mechanic shop, not a 40 year old heavyweight man who likes little girls. That kind of creeper you would **_**not**_** wanna lay down on.**

**DUN DUN DUNNNN. **

**Muahahahahaha, leave it to me to not update for more than half a year then end the chapter with a cliffie.**

**What can I say? Writer's block is a pain in the ass.**

**I honestly love you all, though. I've gotten so many reviews by people telling me they love my writing, and that's really helped me from throwing in the towel and ditching this story.**

**So thank you muchly my lovelies, for reviewing and favoriting and all that good stuff. (:**

**I went back to my first few chapters, and couldn't believe how bad it was. Thankfully, my writing has improved greatly since then, but I was thinking of doing a rewrite of the first two or three chapters to bring the whole story up to par.**

**What you say?**

**Yay? Nay?**

**Tell me in a review!**

**Hugs, kisses, and voodoo dolls,**

**Hermioneroxx77**


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